2092: Aftermath
by Baryon Lancer
Summary: #1 Nothing would ever be the same for the Shiba siblings after Tatsuya used Material Burst for the first time, starting from that very day. All my MKnR stories are in the same slightly altered timeline.
1. Chapter 1: Fear

The longest twenty three minutes of her life seemed as though they would never end.

She knew specifically that it was twenty three minutes because for what seemed like the hundredth time during those twenty three minutes, she looked down in anxiety at her wrist chronometer.

Twenty three minutes and thirty seven seconds ago the translucent wall viewer had gone off-line.

Twenty three minutes and forty two seconds ago her one and only lifeline to….him…was severed.

And soon the longest twenty four minutes of her life would begin…as she waited in abject terror and fear.

Not for her life….but for his…

 _"…Onii-sama."_

A silent one word prayer from the depths of her trembling heart.

A little more than twenty four minutes before she had thought he was surely going to die. The attacking naval ships had already launched their bombardment against his position. The satellite and aerial drone feeds that she had been watching while holding her breath showed him holding a long rifle and shooting towards the enemy ships.

It had looked absurd even to her admiring eyes. Six mighty warships blasting away with their massive rail-gun discharges inbound.

And all that stood against them was a thirteen year old boy in a combat suit, holding a sniper rifle that was way too big for him to look like he could handle it properly.

 _"How can they let my Onii-sama die so uselessly?"_

Her mind screamed that question to itself in the moment of her Onii-sama's greatest peril. She was futilely preparing herself for the loss of everything she now held most precious to her.

 _"There wasn't enough time for me to atone to you. How can I go on without you knowing Onii-sama?"_

She bravely held her eyes open. She refused to ever lose one moment of her Onii-sama's existence again, even if it was his very last moment. His sacrifice…..for her…..would remain in her heart till her dying day.

And then a savior came on the scene at the last second. A woman in a combat suit suddenly appeared behind her Onii-sama. Her figure was well known to Miyuki, even hidden beneath a combat suit.

"HONAMI-CHAN!"

She had blurted this out in joy at that moment. Before her tear stained eyes a beautiful magic shield bloomed in the center of the image before her, radiating all the colors of the spectrum as it engulfed the figures of the woman and the boy in a protective dome of psions, just seconds before the rail-gun projectiles slammed into it.

The explosion of the rail gun shells against the shield was breathtaking and terrifying to behold, but then as the flame and smoke began to clear…..

"ONII-SAMA!"

There before the figure of the woman stood the boy, holding the rifle. Neither of them seemingly phased by the massive explosions against the shield.

The boy casually dropped the rifle, and then pointed his index finger at the approaching ships and curled his other fingers into the shape of a handgun.

 _"What…..what is Onii-sama….."_

She then saw what only magicians can see. The dance of perceived "light" emanating from her Onii-sama's body.

Then Shiba Miyuki's world completely changed again for the second time on this dreadful and fateful day.

Where the six attacking vessels had been a second before on the screens, had turned into the brightness of the Sun on Earth.

At the sudden intense light Miyuki was forced to squint and block her view with her hand.

Through her fingers she saw a dome of pure light radiating out from what had been the center of the formation of enemy ships just seconds before. A blast wave of condensed atmosphere pushed out from the center of the yellow dome of energy in every direction. A radiating wave then pushed against the surrounding ocean as the East China Sea itself was fleeing from the great blast.

As the massive energy dome pushed outwards and changed to an orange hue, Miyuki saw pieces of the upper portions of the ships, surely many times heavier than cargo trucks, flying through the air as if they were an angry toddler's toys being tossed in a fit.

She never saw where those pieces of the warships fell, because the screen before her suddenly went to static and seconds later went completely dark.

"…Onii….SAMA?"

She hadn't had a chance to look back at the separate image of Honami and Tatsuya beside the one focused on the enemy vessels. She didn't know if Honami's shield was still up, protecting her Onii-sama from the blast wave. She didn't know if they were making it to safety before the tsunami wave hit the beaches they were just defending.

But she now knew one thing that would change her Onii-sama's and her own life forever.

"Onii-sama…is…is….."

She didn't even realized that she was now speaking out loud. She had, in the heat of the moment, forgotten that there was one other person in the room with her.

"…..a strategic class magician."

She turned around in surprise at the sudden voice of another person intruding on her world of anxious solitude; then the look she saw on the other person's face paralyzed her.

There was nothing there. Those eyes looked blankly ahead as if still watching the satellite feed that was no longer shown.

Shiba Miya was very apparently physically, mentally, and emotional exhausted.

Her eyes seemed like those of a corpse, in other words "dead". They reminded Miyuki of the same type of eyes she had once saw on her great uncle Eisaku, as the family filed past him laid out on his deathbed just minutes after he had breathed his last. They had tried to close his eyelids, but just the barest hint of his once jovial and smiling eyes could be seen beneath the half-closed lids.

Miyuki had had nightmares remembering that moment for years.

But now she saw the same emptiness in her own mother's eyes. Had it not been for her mother's slightly labored breathing moving her chest up and down, Miyuki might have thought Miya was indeed dead.

A shiver ran down Miyuki's spine.

"Now you know…."

Sudden words from the semi-"dead" woman in the seat before her made Miyuki jump slightly.

Then her mother closed her eyelids and sighed as heavily as Miyuki had ever heard her do before. After what appeared to be her mother centering herself, she opened her eyes again and some "life" had return to them.

She still looked straight ahead at the translucent wall where moments before the image feeds had been broadcast, but now she looked slightly downward toward the military communication center below their level and beyond that translucent wall.

Miyuki followed her mother's line of sight. She could see the military communication personnel down below them scrambling around and furiously working on their terminals. Their room was soundproof, so none of the clearly heated and frantic words being exchanged could be heard. They were working hard to get reports from the field in, and some were trying to reestablish their own suddenly darkened views of the battlefield.

But occasionally, as she looked down at them working hard, several furtive and even some fearful looks would be sent toward them, or more specifically toward the room they were in. Miyuki knew from seeing this room from the outside that others couldn't look in on them from the communication center floor, but she still could feel their questioning eyes boring into her all the same.

"…..and now, they know as well."

Miyuki spun back towards her mother. The empty eyes before had returned. It was as if her mother could see all the evil and darkness of the world laid out before her; and it had made her go catatonic in response.

Miyuki stood there, pondering in silent fear her mother's words. Time seemed to be stretching on into eternity as Miyuki looked down in fear for her brother and Honami's safety, and the future…

 _"…they know now."_

Miya spoke again, vacantly looking ahead at the wall as if everything but her breathing and her words had been shut down.

"I wonder who else also got to watch your brother's dramatic debut?"

Another uncharacteristic heavy sigh followed.

"That brother of yours surely knows how to introduce himself in flamboyant fashion."

She then closed her eyes and attempted to center her thoughts again.

"He simply didn't concern himself about all the trouble his rash actions would cause."

Miyuki felt a sudden urge to defend Tatsuya against their mother's relatively mild criticisms.

"Onii-sama had no choice but…"

Those dead eyes her mother had worn since Tatsuya had revived them from the brink of death less than two hours before now fell on Miyuki, whose powerful words suddenly lost all the energy behind them.

"Tatsuya."

All the weight of motherly rebuke came behind that one word, that one name statement. Power that the fragile looking woman before her surely seemed to not have left in her, suddenly poured forth from Miya and focused entirely on her fearful daughter. Miyuki could feel the full weight of her mother's judgment breaking her will to resist, forcing her through will power alone to obey and back down.

But then somewhere inside her heart, at this moment where any normal twelve year old would bend and obey, a tiny but strong voice screamed forth in rage.

 _"But he gave me my life back!"_

And listening to that tiny but powerful voice, Miyuki mustered all her youthful courage and directed heated eyes back towards the cold gaze of her mother.

 _"This is the least Miyuki owes Onii-sama!"_

She could see sudden realization behind those cold eyes looking back at her now with curiosity.

"He is now, and will always be…."

Resolve of the highest order flowed from the tiny little girl like it had never flowed before. In this moment the daughter of Shiba Miya took her first steps as a woman of strength; and she would never be the same little girl she was before again.

"…MY O-NII-SA-MA."

And before her very eyes the cold frost of her mother's intense rebuke melted away. The once dead look brightened and her eyes began to glow with warmth.

This had not been the terrifying response Miyuki had been bracing herself for.

 _"I….won?"_

She had never won a "standoff" with her mother before, and on this highly contentious topic she certainly didn't expect a victory. She suddenly didn't know how to react.

Then she focused on her mother's response. She noticed the once hard lines of her mother's mouth suddenly turn slightly upward at the corners of her lips.

 _"She's…is she….hap….."_

And as suddenly as it came, the joy faded. The hard lines of her mother's features returned, but she also turned her eyes away.

"Can you at least try to keep that down while we're with the family?"

Miyuki blinked again in mild confusion.

But this was indeed the first argument with her mother that she had ever….

 _"Won….I won! Against mother!"_

A smile replaced the confusion. She realized she had to get her joy under control or her hard fought victory might be for nothing. Her mother seemed not to notice as she continued to speak.

"It will raise too many questions and we will already be under considerable scrutiny thanks to your 'Onii-sama's' actions today."

Her mother immediately returned to complaining about Tatsuya exposing himself to the world, but Miyuki was too happy to restart the argument again. She had, for her, won a much more important victory.

 _"I won….because of him!"_

She clutched her hands together over her heart and fought not to smile too much.

 _"I won…..for him!"_

She bit her lower lip to stop the joy from flowing out of her unchecked.

 _"And now mother will never stop me again from calling him….."_

She looked up at the ceiling as if she could see the sky through all the layers of concrete, steel, and earth above them.

 _"…ONII-SAMA!"_

* * *

All of this had taken place more than twenty five minutes before. The temporary joy Miyuki had felt was now replaced with fear and anxiety for Honami and Tatsuya's safety; and a growing dread.

 _"Why can't I…feel him?"_

When he had saved her life before, after she had been shot earlier, she could FEEL him. He was inside of her and she was inside of him. It had been….

 _"….wonderful."_

And it had been…

 _"…intimate."_

She had felt as if her entire life, every hope and dream, every fear and terror, had been laid bare before him. He now knew everything about her, even the things she hid deep inside her. Things she didn't even want to admit to herself, at least not until today. Not until the moment…..

 _"…when we became one."_

And as Tatsuya had read the "Book of Miyuki", Miyuki felt she too had finally read the "Book of Tatsuya".

She felt HIM!

She felt every part of him and she loved it!

She was now addicted to being one with Onii-sama, and at this moment she desperately craved more.

 _"If only there were some way we could always be connected! To always be one!"_

If such a way existed she would live in a world of bliss forever. If such a way existed she would know he was alive and wouldn't have to suffer like she was now.

 _"Where are you Onii-sama?"_

The only sound in the room that Miyuki could hear over her pounding and trembling heart was the sound of her mother's slightly labored breathing.

Since their earlier exchange Miya had once again fallen silently into her own thoughts. On occasion Miyuki would jump up and nervously pace the room to try to calm herself; but even then Miya didn't seem to notice her.

 _"He was inside you too mother."_

Miyuki said this in her mind to the woman who was so loving and caring towards her; and so disinterested and empty towards someone as wonderful as her Onii-sama.

 _"After being one with him, how can you still be so cold? How can you not care about your own son's life?"_

Miyuki couldn't understand her mother, she never really had.

Miyuki was cold to Tatsuya beforehand because she had been taught to be that way, by everyone in the family, especially by…..

 _"…you!"_

Her silent admonishment towards the woman that had birthed both Tatsuya and herself held all the confusion and anger she could direct towards someone she desperately loved. She had always done as she was told where "Ani" had been concerned, but inside….

 _"….he fascinated me."_

It was really the first time she had ever admitted how intriguing "Ani" had been to her, or how confusing all the adults' attitudes towards him had been to her, even back then…..

 _"…before."_

Before had been less than two hours ago, but in Miyuki's heart it was like someone else's life entirely.

Everyone had worked to keep her "blind", to keep her ignorant; and as a result she acted ignorantly towards "Ani".

But now her eyes were opened at last. Now she knew that "Ani" was a false creation she was forced to see and that he was forced to wear, but now….

 _"The lie that was called 'Ani' is gone forever, now I can see the true him, the truth of my Onii-sama!"_

She whispered ever so lightly then to herself.

"…Tatsuya."

A name that would from this day till her final breath be synonymous with the word "love".

And now that she knew exactly how wonderful Onii-sama truly was, because she had been "one" with him; it made their mother's continuing rejection of him all that more frustrating and mystifying.

 _"Having experienced with him exactly what I did, how can she not love him NOW?"_

A deep abiding sadness resided beside her continuingly mounting fear.

Then a new thought suddenly flared inside her mind.

 _"What if….if it wasn't the same as I felt?"_

Being seated on the floor with her knees wrapped in her arms, she pulled her knees even tighter into her body.

 _"What if…what I experienced was…only for me?"_

Suddenly warring with her negative feelings was a sudden up-swell of joy.

 _"…just for me? From my Onii-sama!"_

At that moment a knock on the door broke both she and her mother from their mutually internal thoughts.

Miyuki sprung to her feet and rushed to the door when she suddenly stopped herself. She could feel disapproving eyes on the back of her head. She turned meekly around to see her mother direct mild rebuke to her with a withering look.

Miyuki looked down in embarrassment at her momentary loss of ojou-sama decorum.

"May I…open the door mother?"

When no response came Miyuki's curiosity began to win over her training and she looked back up. Those same cold eyes still looked at her in disapproval, but a second later her mother turned away and nodded her consent.

Miyuki, in her desperation for news of Tatsuya, had to fight herself to not rush toward the door again. She turned the knob as slowly as she could. On the other side of this door could be relief, or ultimate desolation.

With her head down she spoke to the person at the door.

"Welcome, please…..enter."

"Um….ah, thank you."

The young woman was nervous, you could tell by her quivering voice. Miyuki could also tell that she was not a magician, and that she was somewhat afraid to be where she was now.

Miyuki looked up at the tepidly smiling young woman and recognized her. Her rank insignia indicated she was a Second Lieutenant, the lowest rank of officer. Miyuki knew enough even at her young age to realize someone more senior should be talking to them now and had sent her here instead to avoid them.

She was recognizable because Miyuki had spent the last twenty seven minutes occasionally watching the people on the communication floor to try pointlessly to distract herself. This young officer had been part of that scenery.

Miyuki fought down her desperate desire to scream "where is my Onii-sama?" at this frightened young woman and instead tried to smile reassuringly to her.

Several awkward seconds ensued as they both smiled at each other with strange looks in their eyes.

"How can we help you Lieutenant?"

Miya had apparently become tired of the stalemate and broke it with her own words. Luckily the officer quickly recovered her wits.

"My pardons ma'am. Captain Kazama has made contact and is returning to the base with your son. He asked for you to meet him at the Gate Charlie Guardhouse."

She bowed lightly as she said this.

"He's alive?"

The young woman turned again toward Miyuki with a curious look.

"Um….your brother?"

Miyuki was practically bursting with tension.

"YES! Um…ah, yes, is…..is my brother…a…alive?"

The Lieutenant now had a mortified expression on her face as she responded.

"Um…well. All the Captain said was that he was returning with your brother. He….um, didn't mention his health status."

Panic began to spread across Miyuki's visage to the mutual terror of the Lieutenant looking on.

"Miyuki."

Miya's words broke the mounting disaster.

"The Lieutenant can't provide us with information she doesn't know herself. I seriously doubt the Captain would ask her to bring us to the surface to hand me my dead son's body without preamble."

The officer, grateful for Miya's lifeline to her, nodded in affirmation.

"Even more so with his sister present."

But both adults in the room soon began to look at Miyuki strangely. Even Miyuki didn't understand why at first, but she suddenly realized that she was looking at her mother in a strange way herself.

This was because Miya herself had had a strange look as she said her previous words to Miyuki.

 _"Was she trying to reassure me…or…..herself?"_

Miyuki was certain she saw something in her mother's eyes just now. Her words were strong as always but there was…fear…..in her eyes?

And just as soon as Miyuki saw it, like St. Elmo's Fire it was gone just as quickly.

"Help me up Miyuki."

At her mother's command Miyuki came to her side and allowed her mother to support herself on her shoulder as she stood.

"Whenever you are ready ma'am, if you will follow me I can lead you."

Miya nodded and spoke after the Lieutenant's statement.

"Very well, you may proceed."

The young officer held the door so that they could exist.

The sudden influx of excited and shouted words and commands washed over them as they stepped down the stairs towards the floor. Then just as quickly as that wave of sound hit them, it broke into near silence. The volume dropped as everyone's eyes turned towards them.

None of the looks were hostile, but there was a lot of curiosity in those gazes, and…

 _"…..fear."_

Most people that look at Miyuki do so with nothing but admiration. This was the first time in her life she can ever remember people looking at her like she was dangerous.

She hated it instantly.

She heard a cough from behind her and noticed that the Lieutenant was directing an irritated gaze at her stupefied colleagues. However the way they looked at them wasn't really that much different than the look she had seen from the Lieutenant just moments ago.

And soon the eyes, most anyway, turned back to what they had been doing; and the noise returned to its previous volume.

"This way please."

The Lieutenant indicated with her arm toward the set of doors with armed guards on either side that they had passed through on their way to this room more than an hour before. The guards opened the doors for them as they passed. Two more guards were in the hallway as before, as was the singular set of elevator doors.

The officer placed her hand on a palm reader and a moment later the elevator doors opened. They boarded and prepared to leave. Again the officer placed her hand on a palm reader inside the elevator car, but this time she also inserted a security card into a reader. She then punched a series of buttons on a keypad that was the replacement for the normal set of floor buttons on a regular elevator.

Once the elevator car began moving, Miyuki noticed something odd. A few moments in she allowed her curiosity a voice.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant?"

Surprised to be called, the officer blinked a few times while replying.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

Miyuki furrowed her brows before replying.

"We're not moving in the same direction as we were when we were brought down here, are we?"

The Lieutenant's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you…"

Modern elevators have developed to the point that acceleration and movement are dampened for the riders. Only the most sensitive of people can detect the movements. Only initial movement and final movement could be felt by most. These were intentionally left unhampered so that riders didn't think they were in a stationary car.

Miya rescued the officer again in that moment.

"The Lieutenant most likely can't answer your question Miyuki because this is, after all, a secret military facility."

Miyuki could also tell this young officer wasn't used to being around magicians because of her response. Then her mother spoke up beside her.

"You haven't taken many magicians on this three dimensional elevator before, have you Lieutenant?"

The young lady looked away somewhat confused and embarrassed.

"Um…..no ma'am, never in fact."

She felt the need to add on at this point to relieve some of her embarrassment.

"Captain Kazama and his command staff are the only magicians I know of who used this elevator before, and they have their own clearance to operate the elevator with no one else present."

Miyuki thought this would be the end of this discussion, but her normally taciturn mother surprised her.

"Most forms of modern magic, Lieutenant, deal with what is called phenomenon alteration."

The Lieutenant turned back to her with surprised interest. Miyuki also showed surprised interest at her mother's words, but for different reasons.

"One such phenomenon is movement."

It wasn't like her to be expository with strangers.

"As such some magicians are very sensitive to movements."

Especially a non-magician and a military officer at that.

"I see, no wonder the young lady could tell we were on a different path."

The officer exchanged an awkward smile with Miyuki. She then turned back to Miya with a grateful nod.

"Thank you for the explanation."

Miya nodded her acknowledgement back.

 _"Did mother do that just to relieve this lady's tensions and fears?"_

Suddenly Miya looked down at her daughter's perplexed expression and cocked a knowing eyebrow at her. Miyuki turned away slightly from that look. She hated feeling that her mother was reading her mind, but she often felt that way.

 _"So kind to this stranger, but nothing for her own son?"_

Miyuki fought to not look back up at her mother's face then, for fear of revealing even more intense thoughts to her.

The sideways movement of the elevator car ended, and soon Miyuki felt an upward surge. It was only then that she realized, since she had been too frightened during their initial trip down into the command bunker, that the bunker wasn't located under the actual buildings of the base; but was somewhere further away from the visible surface targets.

She was astounded by this sudden revelation, but quickly decided to keep her thoughts to herself in present company. It would only create more trouble if she revealed she knew their secret.

 _"Maybe I can discuss it with Onii-sama, when we're alone?"_

She wouldn't even admit it to herself, but deep inside she hoped her Onii-sama would be impressed she figured such a thing out on her own. His approval of her was a newfound desire, or one that had been too well suppressed before for her to realize it.

 _"Please be safe Onii-sama."_

She would know soon if her prayers had been answered.

The elevator car slowed, and once it came to a full stop the doors opened. The room they were in looked just like the bunker hallway they had just left.

The Lieutenant stepped out first and moved towards the wall on the right side. On the left Miyuki saw a staircase that led up to a very solid looking door. Above the door was a flashing yellow light.

Miyuki realized that had been the very first thing the Lieutenant had seen after she stepped through the elevator doors.

Then the normal looking wall panel opened suddenly after the young woman's palm had rested on it for a few seconds. Apparently a secret palm reader was embedded in the wall. Behind the panel was a small arsenal. Several automatic rifles and handguns, along with cartridges for their ammunition, where hidden there.

"I thought this area was secure Lieutenant?"

Miyuki could tell, from long experience, that her mother was trying to force down the sarcastic tone she had inadvertently added to her words.

Embarrassed again, the officer continued to gather weapons while responding.

"The yellow light over the door indicates the area is secure ma'am, but that caution should still be observed when exiting this room."

She shouldered a satchel which looked to be holding clips for the rifles, then she tucked a handgun in each pocket on either side of her uniform jacket. Before she shouldered a rifle she furrowed her eyebrows in thought while staring at another of the handguns. She then picked it up and offered it handle first to Miya.

"Do you know how to use one of these ma'am?"

Miyuki's own tension shot up at this event, but Miya lightly smiled back at her and then the officer.

"I do, but we won't need that."

Miya then lifted up the left sleeve of her blouse to show the Lieutenant her wrist CAD.

"My daughter and I are better armed than anything in that console could provide us with."

As if struck by sudden realization, Miyuki reached into her hidden pocket and retrieved her handheld CAD.

Seeing this, a twelve year old girl preparing for combat, slightly flustered the officer.

"Um….of course ma'am. Please follow me out and be very quiet."

She then tucked the third handgun into the waistband of her uniform skirt.

"Allow us to handle the sound issues Lieutenant."

Miya reached for her CAD, but Miyuki stopped her.

"No mother, please allow me."

With a few thumb strokes over her CAD panel, Miyuki began the activation sequence for sound deadening magic.

Miya only nodded approval. Both of them knew how weak Miya was in this state. It was true she was more powerful than any of the weapons in that console combined, but there was no need to push herself if not required.

Both magicians could feel the psion wave of Miyuki's magic sequence deploy from her Eidos around the three of them. The third party could sense nothing, and was confused.

"If you stay within two meters of me Lieutenant, no sound you make will escape the two meter radius."

Shock, then admiring clarity spread on the officer's face.

"Um…thank you. Please follow me."

The three then proceeded up the stairs with Miyuki subtly supporting some of her mother's weight.

At the doorway, the Lieutenant again used a palm reader to open the way. They proceeded into a darkened closet with cleaning equipment in it. Apparently this facility didn't use a HAR for manual labor. The door closed behind them and revealed by doing so that it was a hidden door. There was even equipment mounted to it to add to the convincing illusion.

The Lieutenant then looked out of what was a peephole in the only other doorway from this tiny room. After a second of looking, she sighed in relief and opened the door.

"Ah, Lieutenant, we've been expecting you ma'am."

A Sergeant and another man who Miyuki thought was wearing the rank emblem of a Corporal were waiting for them in a small reception room. They both saluted the Lieutenant who replied in kind. To her left Miyuki saw her first shots of sunlight since she had entered the bunker streaming through the windows of the room on her left side.

"Report Sergeant."

But both men just looked back at her strangely when she said this. Then they looked at each other with curious expressions. The Lieutenant got irritated by their reaction and spoke again.

"I said REPORT Sergeant!"

The atmosphere was getting somewhat tense.

"Miyuki."

She turned to look at her mother, who indicated with her eyes toward Miyuki's CAD.

"OH! Sorry."

Miyuki cancelled her sound barrier magic, and then bowed to the Lieutenant.

"I had not yet lowered my sound barrier Lieutenant. My apologies."

That time the two men heard her, and both of their eyes widened slightly.

"No need for apologies, thank you again."

Then the Lieutenant repeated herself a third time, calmly.

"Report Sergeant."

Both men saluted her once again.

"Forward units have secured a perimeter of two kilometers from this gate out from the base. The base itself is secure now. Damage control parties are working to contain any fires and structural damage. There are no present dangers of secondary explosions."

The Lieutenant nodded her understanding.

"And Captain Kazama's ETA?"

The Sergeant looked at his wrist chronometer.

"As of now ma'am, last reported ETA has them arriving in the next three minutes."

"Can we go outside?"

Miyuki hadn't even bothered to restrain herself in asking this.

 _"Onii-sama is coming! I must be there to greet him!"_

These were the thoughts that dominated her mind.

Still with her mother's hand on her shoulder, Miyuki could feel a slight squeeze indicating reproach, but at this point she no longer cared.

"Well Sergeant, any objections?"

At the Lieutenant's question, the Sergeant looked pensive for a second, then replied.

"If they stay on the porch there should be no issues ma'am."

"Wait Sergeant."

Her mother's voice was soft, but she had the kind of natural authority about her that made people strain to listen to her.

"We have been told once before today that this base was secure when it was not."

Everyone's eyes drifted to the poor Corporal, who was clearly a "Left-Blood". To his credit the young man didn't flinch but stepped forward boldly.

"If I may ma'am?"

Having addressed the Lieutenant, he received an affirmative nod, then turned his confident eyes toward Miya.

 _"He's brave."_

Miyuki couldn't help but admire him. He looked Miya in the eye as if she were just some normal woman.

"Ma'am, everyone in the base with this armband has been identified as having fought against the rebellious forces within the Self Defense Forces earlier today."

It was the first time Miyuki had noticed that both men were wearing a green armband on their left upper sleeves.

"We have captured the rebels and confined them. The base's security team now is exclusively made up of those with this armband. We will personally guarantee you and your daughter's safety."

Miyuki could tell that her mother didn't think much of the armband as an insurance policy; but instead of pointing that out she acquiesced to the brave young man.

"Very well Corporal, we are in your care."

Then the Lieutenant spoke again.

"If you wish to step outside ma'am, please follow us."

The Corporal and the Sergeant left the room in that order. Both wore side arms in holsters and both picked up rifles that had been in a rack near the door. The Lieutenant also had her rifle in a ready position as she stepped through the doorway.

Her mother made a point to step out ahead of Miyuki, her right hand holding her left forearm, which was a less obvious "ready position" than the other three had with their rifles, but none the less she was fully on guard.

Miyuki blinked hard as she stepped out onto the deck attached to the building. The sunlight caused her eyes to water profusely.

Then the sounds assaulted her. There were no sounds of combat, but military men shouted instructions to each other and heavy vehicles rolled by kicking up dust.

It was indeed a base gate. A very heavily armed base gate at that. Six tanks were parked on either side of the road beyond the gate. Their rail gun barrels pointed in various directions guarding the gate in 180 degree arch. The forward two tanks were aiming their weapons down the road itself, from which other military vehicles poured forth in both directions.

They were backed up by other tanks armed with missile launchers, and armed guards with green armbands manning heavy machine gun positions.

"All useless if the wrong magician shows up."

Miyuki heard her mother's muttered criticism of what she considered "lack" of "proper" defense.

Seeing all these men and weapons gathered before her, Miyuki had a hard time agreeing with her, even though inside she knew her mother was right.

"What was that ma'am?"

Standing next to her, the Lieutenant hadn't heard her words over the cacophony of noises, only the knowledge her lips had moved had reached her.

Her mother leaned in to speak to the officer.

"I said it's an impressive sight. We feel safer already."

The Lieutenant nodded understanding to the lie Miyuki's mother told her.

Across the horizon random plums of billowing smoke rose into the sky. At a certain altitude faster winds higher up were pushing the smoke away even faster than below. It was strangely beautiful against the bright blue August sky and the few wispy white clouds beyond. Then Miyuki shuddered as she remembered that under those smoke clouds lay countless dead.

Then something on the far horizon caught Miyuki's eyes.

 _"FAST!"_

This was her only thought before four military aircraft swarmed past them at what seemed only a few hundred meters overhead.

By instinct Miyuki brought her hand CAD up as if to cast a magic against the new "enemy".

Then a sudden hand clasped her wrist before she could respond.

She turned to see her mother looking at her with a serious expression.

"They are ours."

She didn't hear these words as the sonic boom of the aircraft had drowned out all the other sounds. She had to read the lips to understand her mother.

Once the boom had dissipated, Miya pulled Miyuki closer to whisper to her ear.

"And you were too late, we'd already be dead if that was the enemy."

Miyuki was stunned silent in shame by Miya's words. Realizing such, Miya added on.

"We can work on that though, you will get better at reacting and recognizing."

Then she lightly stroked Miyuki's head and smiled ever so slightly down at her.

"There's the Captain now!"

The Sergeant pointed down the road to an open topped vehicle approaching the gate.

"ONII-SAMA!"

"MIYUKI!"

She was gone in a flash down the ramp. Caution thrown to the wind. Miya's shocked plea didn't reach her ears. The Corporal's attempt to block her path down the ramp was too slow as well.

She ran down the road as fast as she could. Faster even. Without realizing it, she was casting acceleration magic on herself without the use of a CAD.

"ONII-SAMA!"

The guards at the gate were stunned by the sudden blur of color flying past them down the road. On instinct they raised their rifles towards that movement.

Hot tears streamed back from her eyes and the force of wind pushed those tears back towards her ears.

She didn't see the machine gunners reflexively turn toward their weapons towards the unknown high speed object. She didn't hear Miya's and her guards' desperate pleas for her to stop. Even though she was looking square at them, she didn't see Lieutenant Sanada or Captain Kazama's eyes going round at her sudden high speed approach.

She was focused on the dark haired boy who had his back turned towards her as he sat facing the rear of the open topped military vehicle.

"ONII-SAMA!"

She didn't see that he was leaning over something on a stretcher on the back of that vehicle. Something covered completely by an olive-drab blanket.

"ONII-SAMA!"

She only saw him, she didn't even notice he was holding something under that cloth.

Then she stopped dead in her tracks, deceleration magic being applied unconsciously as acceleration had been done before.

The world for her seemed to be in slow motion. She saw his face turn towards her slowly. First his left ear appeared and then…..

 _"His…..eye!"_

She had never felt mortification like this before.

 _"He…his….but he…"_

Her mind was going blank at the sight before her. Only the corner of his left eye was visible yet, in her slow motion world.

 _"But…he….he can't."_

That eye was red. Even this far away she could see the irritation around his eye. Even this far from him she could see the redness in the white of his left eye. Even this far away she could see the tell-tale streak left on his dirty left cheek.

 _"But…Onii-sama….has never…"_

And then the iris in than eye turned toward the left corner of the socket to focus on her.

And then that eye showed instant recognition…..

…and instant fear.

 _"Onii…..sama…"_

And with her world still in slow motion, suddenly Onii-sama moved even faster than real time. He sprung up from the moving vehicle while turning towards her. Then his eyes saw the rest of the world around her. The world that meant nothing to her in this moment clearly meant everything to him.

As he flew off the vehicle his right arm pushed forward.

 _"His right eye too?"_

That eye was the same as the left was. Red-rimmed and with a streak running down the check. Bloodshot but full of….

 _"Rage….Onii-sama is….angry."_

And then a spray of psions emanated from her Onii-sama. A wave of psion light.

 _"So…..beautiful."_

She felt pity for the normal humans watching this, who couldn't see how beautiful her Onii-sama's magic truly was. They weren't even seeing half the real show.

But the show they got was impressive enough.

Tatsuya's feet hadn't even hit the ground before Miyuki turned at a sudden noise behind her. Two large tires, truck tires, rolled past her on their own to either side if her body. She stared down blankly at a military vehicle's bumper that had suddenly hit the ground less than half a meter away from her.

In her confusion she couldn't form words in her mind. She was stunned and perplexed by the sudden appearance of the bumper behind her, and what looked like pieces of a large vehicle crumbling before her eyes behind that bumper. She locked eyes briefly with the equally stunned driver who still was sitting in his seat, which no longer was connected to anything else, holding a steering wheel in a similar condition in front of him.

Then she felt her body being enveloped in a sea of warmth. Two powerful and all-encompassing arms warped her up and lifted her into a cocoon of safety. She went limp and relaxed back into the embrace as she was effortlessly lifted off the ground.

Together they bounded up into the air, over the crumbled pieces of the truck.

Only then did her eyes focus upward. Only then did she see…..him.

Just inches from her face was his. The determination, the strength, the beauty that was all things Onii-sama to her.

"My….Onii-sama. You're safe!"

Then, before his feet even touched the dirt, he turned his face down to look at her. His eyes radiating concern and love, but the redness still persisting. His cheeks suddenly flushed under her gaze.

"My poor Onii-sama."

She reached up and touched his left cheek with her right hand. He turned away as his feet softly landed on the ground.

"…Miyuki."

He turned away shyly under her warm gaze. She never realized even then that she had spoken out loud and not in the safety of her mind. And if she had she wouldn't have cared, at least in that "magic" moment.

Standing there in the middle of the road, cradled in her brother's arms, nothing else existed for Miyuki. Her hand had drifted down to touch both his left cheek and his neck at the same time.

"Are…..are you, alright, Miyuki?"

His eyes turned back to look at her with fear on his face. Fear for her and her safety.

"Oh…..Onii-sama, in your arms, how can I not be perfectly alright?"

She was in a trance, here in the one place in all the world she wanted to be the most.

"Never let me go, Onii-sama."

Her words struck at his heart, his very reason for existence, and yet the way she was looking at him…

He turned away embarrassed but then refocused his eyes at her with sincerity.

"Never Miyuki. Never."

And then while holding her upper body he slowly lowered her bottom half to the ground. Then he wrapped his arms tightly around her and she responded in kind.

She was enraptured in joy in this moment. Her Onii-sama was in her arms, and she would never let him go either.

Then she felt him squeeze too hard, and then she felt him begin to tremble.

"Onii….sama?"

"What were you thinking?"

She could hear the desperation in his voice. She had only heard that voice once from him, when he had brought her back to life just hours before.

He pushed her out to shoulder length and looked into her eyes with terror.

"Running out in front of all these soldiers and vehicles! You could have been KILLED!"

Her dream world had been shattered by his furious words. She suddenly looked around her. She was stunned to see so many faces looking back at her. Almost all those faces were soldiers, but none had weapons. Their weapons lay in pieces on the ground before them. Machine guns, rifles, hand guns, shoulder mounted missiles; all rendered into basic components.

Then she saw the tanks. Their weapon systems had fallen down to the ground in chunks or hung lifelessly from their apertures. She saw a military truck in pieces where she knew moments before she had been standing. Soldiers were helping the driver out of the vehicle components. He was still holding the steering wheel in shock.

And the stunned faces…

Some looked down at their weapons on the ground in disbelief, but most were looking at them. No, not them, but him. Her beloved Onii-sama. Those eyes, showed fear and terror.

 _"They're afraid…of…..Onii-sama."_

And he didn't seem to care in the least. All his mind, all his fear, was concentrated on her.

She had to relieve him.

"But Onii-sama! Even if I were killed, you would…"

"NO!"

He stunned her into silence with his desperate fury.

"You can't rely on THAT! You can't rely on ME! What if I fail you? What if I can't bring you back?"

She was stunned by his emotional outburst.

"But…Onii-sama could never….."

She reached up to touch his cheek to comfort him, but he caught her wrist before she could do so.

"I'm too weak! Too weak to protect Miyuki! I'm not good enough!"

"But, you are good enough! You are all I need! You brought me back to life!"

"I was the one that let them close enough to shot you in the first place!"

She couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing. Stoic, silent, confident Onii-sama was having a….

 _"….breakdown?"_


	2. Chapter 2: Anger

She could feel the well of emotions seeping forth from him. She could "see" his normally controlled psion flow suddenly surging wildly about him. She could feel him…losing control.

And she couldn't tell if she should be terrified or mystified by his power and intensity.

 _"Is this…..his true strength? He's so…."_

"I can't fail Miyuki! I can't live with that!"

He was beginning to explode with rage.

"If I ever let them hurt Miyuki again, I will burn them to the…"

"Tatsuya-kun."

These simple words had stunned Tatsuya from his rage, and they had simply stunned Miyuki.

"Mo….mother?"

Miyuki replied instinctively to her mother's voice, but she couldn't believe how gentle and warm it had sounded. She was used to hearing that voice aimed towards her, but never towards him before.

"…my son."

So much warmth, so much concern, and for him, for Onii-sama.

Miyuki couldn't believe her mother's words and tone. She had never shown any significant love or concern for Tatsuya before. But now…

 _"….I always wanted to believe…."_

And now her hopes and prayers had finally been rewarded.

Joy flooded her heart as her Onii-sama looked into the kind eyes of his mother for what Miyuki thought was surely the very first time in his life.

 _"She had felt him inside her too!"_

Dare she hope today was a breakthrough?

 _"….maybe….we can be a real family now?"_

"You saved your sister and your mother and protected both of us. We are safe and healthy because of you. You have done well, and we are proud of you."

"…..momma!"

Joy seeped through her call to her parent, but Miya never even acknowledged her daughter. All her focus and energy was on her stupefied son. Miyuki thought he must be stunned by his mother's suddenly loving words.

But then she saw a sudden change wash over him.

 _"…..no…that's not the right response."_

Concern bubbled up as she felt his rage rebuilding as if never stopped previously.

 _"…no, she loves you! See! She does!"_

She wished she could push these words out of her mouth and into his mind.

"…..you."

It was calm and even toned, but Miyuki felt a strength and anger in her Onii-sama singular word that made her want to flee. He clutched both his fists so tightly that she could hear his fingers popping. The glare in his eyes was terrifying.

"You….are the one who brought Miyuki to this island."

 _"Onii-sama….no!"_

"You are the one who put Miyuki in jeopardy by bringing her here."

His even tone never broke.

"Safe and healthy? You think Miyuki is safe now? Is SHE safe and healthy now?"

She could hear sarcasm leaking into his words.

"You are the one that sent her to me. She would have never come without your order."

His hand pointed back toward Kazama and Sanada. No, his hand was pointing between them, at the vehicle they had rode in.

"She would have never came if you hadn't allowed it."

Miyuki suddenly was curious about what was under that blanket on the back of the vehicle.

"What good were my powers for her?"

"For….her?"

He didn't hear his sister's concerned question.

He was too focused on Miya to be stopped by a mere question. Miyuki was too terrified to push the question again. She turned to see the angry face her mother was surely directing now at her Onii-sama. At any second she expected to feel her mother's magic striking down her poor Onii-sama.

But there before her was the same warm and caring eyes looking back at him from his mother.

"She asked me to let her go to you. She wanted to help you son."

"…..son?"

He almost sneered back at her.

Miyuki suddenly realized her world no longer made any sense to her.

"She asked to go, and I agreed. She wanted to protect you and so did I, and by protecting you she would protect Miyuki and me as well."

Then Miyuki's mind was slapped hard by sudden and deep fear and mourning.

"OWAAAAAAA!"

Everyone in earshot was stunned by her sudden wail of pain.

"MIYUKI!" Tatsuya and Miya called out to her simultaneously in concern.

She twisted out of Tatsuya's arms. He went to pursue her, and Sanada and Kazama moved to block her way.

"HONAMI-CHAN!"

She hit the wall formed by the Captain and the Lieutenant's legs and arms.

"LET ME GO! HONAMI-CHAN!"

She reached through their legs in desperation. Tatsuya pulled her back.

"No Miyuki, no."

"HONAMI-CHAN!"

Tears flowed uncontrolled with her screams.

"Tatsuya-kun."

Miya called to him. He directed an angry gaze at her as he struggled to get Miyuki under control.

"We can't always protect her from the pain in this life."

He sneered at her words.

"Please let her go son."

He then turned and whispered to her ear.

"Calm Miyuki, remember what she taught us. This is for Honami. Let us say goodbye to her with the dignity she deserves."

Her Onii-sama was calm again, and his words calmed her raging heart.

"….Onii-sama is right."

She stopped struggling and he wiped the tears from her eyes with his gloved fingers.

Then he guided her past the sad expressions of Kazama and Sanada.

His hand on her shoulder, they walked calmly around to the rear of the vehicle.

Then Miyuki burst into sudden tears again and buried her head in his chest.

Honami's hand had flopped out from under the blanket and was dangling in mid-air.

Tatsuya turned Miyuki more so into his chest and away from the sight before her as she bawled into his combat suit.

"I'll fix her up." He whispered into Miyuki's ear, and then he let her go to put Honami's hand back under the cover.

"OK Miyuki, you can approach now."

She walked over beside him, tears flowing but her sobbing under momentary control. Miya approached from the side and stood at Honami's feet. The outline of a young woman, in the prime of her life, lay before them.

They stood there in silence for a few moments, then….

"I want to see her."

A simple request from a tearful and heart-broken little girl.

"Miyuki, you shouldn't….."

"Let Miyuki see her Tatsuya."

Suddenly his burning eyes came back as he held his sister in his right arm, and directed a vitriolic glare at the woman standing at the corpse's feet. Then he looked down softly at his sister's teary face, all the gentleness and concern returned in an instant.

 _"So many….emotions. I never knew he had this in him!"_

"If that is truly what Miyuki wishes?"

Miyuki meekly nodded. Only with her head down did she see that Tatsuya had yet to let go of Honami's hand that he had placed back under the blanket. She realized now that what she saw when he was on the back of the vehicle was him gently holding Honami's body in place.

He finally let go of the hand, and gently lifted the blanket off from over her head.

"OWAAAA!"

Miyuki released another pained cry. Any slim chance that all this was some great mistake and Honami was still really alive, were now blown away forever. There below them was the lovely face of a person who had been a mentor, a friend, an older sister to them both. There lay the face of someone who had gladly gave up her own life for them. There was the face of someone who loved them, and who they would love and revere forever.

As she laid both her hands on Honami's chest Miyuki once again lost all control of her sobbing. Tatsuya's strong right arm enveloped her for comfort.

"Ho….ho…..nami-chan. Why? WHY?"

Miyuki didn't expect an answer to her desperate rhetorical question, and she was surprised to get one.

"….I failed her."

Tear stained eyes looked up to see anger as her brother looked down at Honami's slightly smiling visage.

"Onii-sama, no…."

"I wasn't good enough."

"Tatsuya, that's not…."

In his arms she could feel him tense at their mother's words. His anger amplified immediately as vengeful eyes looked onto their mother.

"I'm a FLAWED creation."

"Onii…."

He began to smile at their mother over her head. There was no joy in that expression, just hate.

"And so Honami had to rescue the valuable but flawed material."

"Son, now is not the time….."

Sarcasm was radiating in his voice now.

"'The Family' can't afford to lose the valuable material, even if it is flawed."

Miyuki turned towards their mother, expecting an angry showdown.

Instead she saw…

 _"…..FEAR?"_

This woman hadn't shown even the slightest hint of fear as bullets pierced her and her daughter's bodies, but now….

 _"She AFRAID! She afraid of…."_

Miyuki turned back around and looked into the face she loved. She didn't recognize him with that feral smirk on his face.

"Does Madam wish for me to secure this weapon for transport so that 'The Family' can investigate it and improve upon it further?"

"Tatsuya…..please….."

Her mother's eyes darted in the direction of the serious and confused expressions on Captain Kazama and Lieutenant Sanada's faces.

"After all…..this weapon worked exactly as she…..pardon me, IT, was designed to. We shouldn't let valuable research material go to waste, right…..Madam?"

"That's enough Tatsuya."

"It's just spent material now for your research anyway, right…..Madam?"

"Son…stop, please. You're frightening Miyuki."

Their traditional roles had been reversed. Now Tatsuya was in authority and it was Miya who was frantically trying to mollify him instead.

"After all, it's just a weapon, no 'human' life was lost here."

"AWWWWW!"

They all froze at Miyuki's sudden outburst.

"MIYUKI!"

His anger gone in an instant, concern pushed to the forefront as he stared down at her. She reached up and place both hands on his cheeks.

"She loved us Onii-sama!"

Concern melted to sadness as he looked into his sister's tear stained eyes.

"…I know."

She suddenly smiled up at him, then he smiled back down at her.

"She died for us Onii-sama."

His sad eyes turned toward Honami's tranquil looking face.

"She died for you, Onii-sama."

He turned away in shame but she pulled his face back to her.

"She BELIEVED in YOU, Onii-sama!"

They stared into each other's eyes intently.

"Just as your Miyuki will always BELIEVE IN YOU!"

"…Miyuki, I…."

She pulled him down and kissed his forehead then.

"We must and we will honor her sacrifice for us. Together, Onii-sama."

She smiled brightly at him again, through her tears.

"Yes….Miyuki."

And he was finally calm again.

And they both turned again to look at Honami, who had given everything she had for them. Miyuki reached down and pulled the blanket slowly over Honami's face.

"Honami-chan will never be forgotten."

"No she will not…."

With these words Tatsuya's eyes drifted back toward their mother.

"…and she will not have died for nothing. I will make certain of that."

Miya didn't speak, they simply looked at each other with unreadable eyes, as if they were speaking a language to each other that no one else could understand. Miyuki trembled in his arms as the two people she loved the most looked at each other with these horrible expressions.

Anger and defiance from her previously placid and obedient Onii-sama.

Concern and fear from her previously dominant and commanding mother.

"Ma'am."

Into this moment stepped another very brave man, at least in Miyuki's estimation.

"Yes Captain Kazama?"

"How can we assist your family at this moment?"

His kind offer was pondered by their mother for a few seconds before she gave an answer.

"My children and I have had a very tiring and trying day Captain. May we return to the guardhouse to relax until you can arrange to take us back to our villa?"

At the last part of her question both military officers looked at each other in puzzlement. If Miyuki had to describe that look it would be something along the lines of "does this woman not understand what happened today?"

All around them lay pieces of formerly functional equipment her son had rendered into pieces, and that wasn't even at the top of the list of amazing and fearsome things that this woman's thirteen year old son had done today.

These two men clearly didn't think there was any chance in the world these three magicians would be heading back to their "vacation" anytime in the near future.

And yet they couldn't help but see the same look in their mother's eyes that Miyuki saw. She had a baring and determination that defied her fragile appearance.

To his credit, the Captain managed a strong response. As before, Miyuki could tell he was a man used to commanding, and being obeyed.

"Of course ma'am, please relax in the guardhouse."

He motioned towards the female Lieutenant who had escorted them to the surface. She hesitated, but soon moved towards them.

 _"Now….she's afraid of us again."_

The Sergeant and Corporal also began moving cautiously towards them. None of them had weapons now, since Tatsuya hadn't risked letting any in the area remain intact.

They walked through the other soldiers who still couldn't seem to grasp what had happened to their weapons.

Only now did Miyuki see that Lieutenant Sanada was having a vigorous discussion with a very agitated looking major. Miyuki assumed he was the commander of the forces around the gate. He would randomly point in their direction while angrily arguing with the placid Sanada. Then his eyes drifted, along with what Miyuki had assumed were specific words from Sanada, towards Captain Kazama.

The look Kazama exchanged with his nominally superior officer on the scene seemed to indicate that their ranks were somehow reversed. After only a moment of defiance, the major sighed, then called out to his men.

"Listen up! We're moving forward. Vehicles are bringing replacement equipment to our new location. Leave EVERY! And I do mean EVERY! Piece of hardware here! Sergeants! Form the men up!"

The major again sent Tatsuya a furtive look, and then moved about his business. Slowly at first, the men formed two lines, and then marched off down the road.

Every one of them looked at Tatsuya with fear and curiosity as they passed him. Miyuki remembered her mother's dark words from earlier.

"…..and now, they know as well."

 _"My poor Onii-sama."_

"I wonder who else also got to watch his dramatic debut?"

Their looks seemed to mean nothing to him. He stayed in place standing watch over Honami's covered body.

The three who had guarded them before arrived in their proximity during all of this. Kazama began issuing orders.

"Lieutenant, take Shiba-san and her children back to the guardhouse and see that they are comfortable. Then return to your normal duties."

"Yes Sir!"

"Sergeant, you and the Corporal get some new gear. You'll stay on guard here. Make sure they are not disturbed till either myself of Lieutenant Sanada returns for them."

"Yes Sir!"

The Lieutenant, despite her renewed sense of fear of them, smiled brightly at Miyuki then, while speaking to their mother.

"Ma'am, if you'll follow me back…"

Just then another open topped vehicle came roaring up the road. Like Tatsuya, Kazama, and Sanada; the three men in this vehicle had on combat suits. Despite their visors still being down, Miyuki could tell they were suddenly stunned at the site of the disassembled weapons systems around them.

When they stopped, only the passenger got out of the vehicle. He rapidly approached the Captain, who wasn't the least bit put off by this action from the currently anonymous soldier.

"Report Lieutenant."

They exchanged salutes, and the man then removed his visor and helmet.

Miyuki didn't know this man, but she could tell that Tatsuya recognized him before he had even removed his helmet.

He looked around with wide eyes and a slight smirk.

"Well that explains why that regular unit we just passed were unarmed."

Then the young man looked at Tatsuya with a knowing grin and spoke to him as he scratched at the back of his head.

"Hope we're still on the same team Tatsuya-san."

His grin and teasing words were in good humor, but no one was laughing. He looked around in confusion, and then realized to his chagrin what Tatsuya and Miyuki were standing in front of, or instead who they were standing in front of.

"Oh!...damn, Tatsuya-san…I…I didn't mean….."

"Never mind that Yanagi."

Kazama's slightly irritated words stopped Yanagi's awkward apology attempt in its tracks.

"I'll have your report now, Lieutenant."

"Um, Yes Sir! Sorry Sir!"

He recovered quickly with a salute.

"All identified enemy magicians have either been eliminated or contained. Per standing orders we have dispersed our men in groups of two to regular units advancing on the remaining enemy positions in case new enemy magicians appear. The enemy combatants we captured were vetted for magicians and then the rest were turned over to regular units. My squad stands by to support any of our forward units at the Captain's command, Sir!"

"Very well Lieutenant. Sanada and I must speak with the base commander. Take charge here until we return."

Yanagi snapped to attention again with a salute.

"Yes Sir!"

Kazama then turned to nod at the lady Lieutenant, who understood from that that it was time to take the Shibas to the guardhouse.

"Ma'am, if you're ready?"

Miya nodded to her as she replied.

"Yes, come Miyuki, Tatsuya."

Miyuki looked down again at the covered body of her beloved friend, then slowly moved towards her mother.

"Captain Sir?"

Her brother's words made everyone turn towards him.

"Yes Special Officer Shiba?"

Kazama instantly recognized that the boy had again become the soldier from earlier. He responded in kind.

"Request permission to engage remaining enemy forces."

"Tatsuya…."

Miya's words radiated concern and weariness.

"…you have done enough today, son."

"Sir…."

He ignored her willfully.

"….I am combat ready Sir!"

"Onii-sama…."

Miyuki, like her mother, disparately didn't want him to go back to the fighting. She saw him flinch when he heard her voice. If she had to she'd throw a tantrum to keep him with her. She'd even beg if needed. She vowed to do anything to keep him safe with her.

Captain Kazama rescued her from those embarrassing actions.

"That won't be necessary Special Officer. The forward magicians and the regular units have the situation in hand."

Tatsuya's eyes darted around to find a response.

"Sir, I can easily…."

"You are ordered to stay here and guard your family and this position under Lieutenant Yanagi's command until I return. Is that understood Special Officer?"

Kazama's firm but calm, commanding demeanor allowed Tatsuya no room to maneuver out from under his orders.

"Yes Sir!"

Miyuki heard his spine pop as he again straightened himself beside her.

Miya sighed ever so slightly in relief and again indicated for them to return to the guardhouse.

She put her hand on Miyuki's shoulder for support. Then they all realized Tatsuya still wasn't coming. He looked down at Honami's body and then stood to ridged attention over her body.

"Madam."

Miyuki had a sinking feeling again in response to his words.

 _"Oh no! Not again!"_

"The Captain has ordered me to guard this position and my family. I can protect Miyuki and you from here, but I cannot protect this position and all of my family from inside that build."

No one was confused who else Tatsuya was referring to as "family". Miyuki felt the tears coming back.

"….Tatsuya, please….."

Miya's plea was more shocking to hear for Miyuki than Tatsuya's own words.

Then Tatsuya replied. A growl of anger mixed with a plea of sadness.

"She did not abandon me. I will not abandon HER!"

She looked at him. Calm, strong, unyielding and yet.

 _"….tears….again?"_

She saw moisture form in the corners of her precious Onii-sama's eyes.

 _"….no, he can't…."_

In a day full of terror, tears from her Onii-sama would inspire more fear in her heart than anything she had felt before.

 _"I must save my Onii-sama!"_

"….Miyuki!"

Miya called to her as she tore away from her mother and stood looking defiantly and sadly back at her mother.

"My place is with Onii-sama. I will not abandon Honami-chan either."

Her mother looked down at her with sympathy, exasperation, and aggravation mixed on her face. The expression clearly conveyed the impression that Miyuki was not being helpful to her mother.

Miya, in a rare display among a day of rare displays for both herself and her son, leaned over to support herself on the side of the vehicle and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. Everyone present, even Tatsuya began to move toward her to prevent her from collapsing, but she stopped herself from moving further.

Then she looked at her recently and suddenly defiant son, stood up next to him and spoke to him directly.

"Would it be alright if, with the Captain's permission, one of the men you fought beside of you today watched over our Honami while you secure our safety and tell me all that happened?"

Before Tatsuya replied Yanagi stepped forward at attention before him.

"Special Officer Shiba, with the Captain's approval, I would consider it a high honor to guard your Onee-sama until you return."

Miyuki didn't know if Yanagi had misunderstood the relationship Honami had with them, or if he was calling her their big sister simply to honor her sacrifice for them. Miyuki didn't care, she was deeply moved and overjoyed to hear Honami referred to in this way. Hot tears flowed down her face.

If their mother had any objection to her dead servant being referred to this way she hid it well.

"I know what your Onee-sama did today. For ALL of us. For everyone on this island. She's a hero."

Miyuki began to sob again, but she fought to regain her composure. She heard her Onii-sama inhale hard and saw his throat move as he too fought for composure.

"Not even considering what we, and I personally owe to you as well, her actions alone are worthy of the highest honors. Please…"

Yanagi then bowed gracefully at the waist to Tatsuya.

"….though I do not deserve it, I beg you for the honor to stand guard over one of the Heroes of Okinawa!"

Miyuki lost it then, she buried her face in Tatsuya's side and sobbed as he wrapped his arms around her.

Before Yanagi's humbling display, Tatsuya could fight no more.

"Please….Onii-sama."

His beloved sister's whispered plea took any last resistance he might have tried to muster out of him. Tatsuya looked towards the Captain then.

"With your permission Sir?"

Kazama nodded with a sad smile.

"Of course. Truth is I am jealous of Yanagi. We all owe Sakurai-san our lives. We owe her more than we can ever repay her for."

"I agree with the Captain."

Sanada spoke up beside his commander.

"She never hesitated. Her dedication to Tatsuya-san allowed you to complete your mission and save the people of this island. Yanagi may have dramatic tendencies….."

The two magician Lieutenants exchanged brief smirks before they refocused on Tatsuya and Miyuki.

"….but in this rare case he is right. Sakurai-san is indeed a hero."

Yanagi snapped a salute at Tatsuya, then all the military personnel present did so as well. Even the two combat magicians in Yanagi's vehicle got out and saluted.

Then Tatsuya saluted back.

"Special Officer, I am here to relieve you until your return!"

Tatsuya swallowed hard, and then responded.

"Lieutenant, I stand relieved."

Miyuki instinctively bowed towards Yanagi. Off to her side Miya nodded gratefully at Captain Kazama.

Tatsuya must have already understood the procedure for guard change. He and Yanagi exchanged positions. Then saluted each other again.

Then Yanagi stood over Honami's covered body, and Tatsuya reluctantly moved away.

They were then surprised as the Captain led the other military personnel forward.

"For our honored dead. PRESENT…ARMS!"

The Sergeant and the Corporal held their new rifles forward while everyone else saluted. At this, Tatsuya joined them and Miyuki bowed towards Honami's body while fighting a new flood of tears. She was the only one in a position to see her mother now. Her eyes were closed, and she bowed her head lightly to her former Guardian.

 _"…..momma."_

Once arms were lowered the lady Lieutenant nodded to them to indicate that if they were ready she would take them to the guardhouse.

Miya stretched out her hand for Miyuki, who grabbed a hold and positioned herself again to help their weakened mother support herself. They began to follow the lady Lieutenant and the two soldiers back to the guardhouse when they noticed Tatsuya still wasn't moving.

He was just looking blankly down at the cloth covering Honami's body.

"…..son."

Miyuki's eyes widened as Miya extended her other hand towards Tatsuya. Tatsuya too was initially shocked, then he furrowed his brow at her hand as if it were a poisonous snake ready to strike him.

He then turned back defiantly towards Honami.

"…..Onii-sama…"

When her words reached his ears his defiance broke at last. With one last look of concern for the body, he turned and took his mother's hand. To Miyuki's knowledge it was the first time the two had every held hands.

Tatsuya moved to take over the support of Miya's weight from Miyuki.

Then, as they turned to leave….

"I know it has been a long day for everyone ma'am."

Captain Kazama's words were clearly directed towards their mother. Without turning to face him, she sighed lightly and tried to hide her irritation. Miyuki could only guess from this reaction that her mother had expected the Captain to have more to say to her. Once her face was composed again she turned towards him to respond.

"Indeed it has been Captain. If you will excuse us my children and I need to rest."

She started to turn back onto their previous course, but Kazama had more to say.

"Of course, the Lieutenant will see to that. But when I return, we will need to talk."

Miyuki tensed, she knew exactly what, no, who, he wanted to talk about.

"Is that so Captain?"

Miya smiled lightly back at him. She seemed to know something he didn't and enjoyed it. Kazama furrowed his brows at her expression.

"Indeed Shiba-san, there will be a great many things to discuss."

Miya shrugged at his words, while leaning against Tatsuya.

"Um….well we'll see."

She then turned and they proceeded towards the guardhouse.

Kazama and Sanada looked on as they moved away. Miyuki could see that they both were looking at Miya as if seeing her with new eyes, but their confusion at her nonchalant attitude to the momentous events of this day was still evident as well.

The Captain and Lieutenant Sanada nodded to Tatsuya then and proceeded to the vehicle Yanagi had brought with him. The two combat magicians with their visors still up took up positions on either side of the road where the disabled forward tanks sat.

* * *

The Shibas followed the lady Lieutenant back up the ramp and then into the guardhouse. The sudden chill of air conditioning made Miyuki shiver. She hadn't even realized she was sweating under the hot afternoon sun.

"Please sit here ma'am."

The Lieutenant offered Miya a hand to a couch along the back wall.

As Tatsuya also helped their mother sit on the couch, Miyuki finally took note of this room.

There were two couches facing each other only a few meters apart. The guardhouse was very utilitarian and there were no attempts to make it nicer than required. There was a door in all four walls. There was the main door that they had just come back in, and the closet door that led to the secret entrance back to the bunker system was on the far side wall. What looked like another exit to the right of the couch their mother now sat on was along the windowless back wall, and also a door that led into what looked like an office was beside the entrance door on the wall beside it.

Miyuki could see that the office room had windows on all four sides, including the one she was looking through now to see into the office. The couch beside the door outside to the deck, which Miyuki thought of as the main door, had a small cooler beside it.

"If you'd like something to drink we have cold beverages in the cooler."

At the Lieutenant's suggestion, Tatsuya immediately opened the cooler and removed three water bottles. He handed one to Miyuki, one to their mother, and one to the officer before gulping down the fourth bottle and returning to the cooler for another.

Miyuki noticed suddenly that there was no bathroom. As if they had the same thought the Lieutenant spoke again.

"The restroom is right outside the back door."

She indicated to the doorway beside the couch Miya sat on.

Miyuki noticed Tatsuya had finished his second bottle of water and was rapidly going through a third.

 _"Of course Onii-sama is dehydrated. He worked so hard for us today."_

She looked around for a moment and then saw what she needed.

"Thank you Lieutenant, you've been very helpful today. We don't wish to keep you further from your normal duties."

"If you're sure you're fine for now ma'am….."

"We are, I'll make certain Captain Kazama mentions our appreciation of your efforts today…"

Miya was suddenly distracted by something in the corner of her eye.

"….Miyuki, what…."

Miyuki had a hand towel she had found and had wetted it from her water bottle. She had it in her hands and was beaming up at a slightly perplexed Tatsuya.

"Oh…..um, thank you….Miyuki."

He gently reached for it but Miyuki's words stopped him.

"No, Onii-sama is exhausted. Please allow Miyuki to do this simple task."

Tatsuya's eyes drifted curiously towards Miya then, to see her reaction.

"Miyuki, that is not app….."

Before her mother could finish reproaching her, Tatsuya's eyes narrowed at Miya, and then he graciously lowered his head.

"Thank you very much Miyuki."

Miyuki was delighted and she began to happily wipe the dust and sweat from her Onii-sama's face and neck.

Clearly sensing that somehow she was in an awkward family moment, the Lieutenant excused herself.

"Please excuse me, I need to speak to the guards."

Miya nodded her consent and the young officer stepped out on the deck. Once the door closed Miya directed disapproving eyes towards both her children, but she said nothing else to them and neither seemed to pay her any attention. Having finished cleaning him, Miyuki went to get Tatsuya a fourth bottle of water.

Miya sighed heavily and Miyuki glowed with joy as her brother accepted the bottle with a thankful smile. Miyuki then heard her mother sigh heavily again. Miyuki was preparing to turn her own disapproving look to her mother, when she saw her lips moving slightly.

"….too soon. Much too soon."

Brief confusion ruled her mind.

 _"Too soon? What is mother saying is too soon?"_

Then the thought was lost as the Lieutenant returned.

"Everything is set ma'am. Lieutenant Yanagi and his men will watch out for you until the Captain returns."

Miya nodded as she thanked her again.

"You have been most helpful Lieutenant."

Then the young officer turned towards Miyuki and Tatsuya.

"I am….very sorry for your loss."

She bowed, and Miyuki returned her bow.

"Thank you Lieutenant."

Then she looked at Tatsuya.

 _"She's still afraid of my Onii-sama…"_

Sadness welled up inside of Miyuki but suddenly dissipated. The Lieutenant's back went straight and her right hand came up to her right temple. Recognizing the gesture, Tatsuya immediately returned it.

"Thank you for all your hard work today Special Officer."

"You as well ma'am, thank you for looking out for Miyuki, and our mother."

Miyuki knew that Tatsuya still terrified the Lieutenant, but she was happy to see she could overcome her fear with gratitude.

And with that, the Lieutenant sent all three of them departing nods with a smile and proceeded into the closet.

This action caused Tatsuya to raise his eyebrows in curiosity. Miyuki began to get excited.

 _"Please ask me why the woman went into the closet Onii-sama!"_

She wanted to impress him with her knowledge. He then got a look in his eyes as if he could see something far away and through the wall. Then sudden clarity appeared on his face.

"…of course."

He whispered this ever so slightly and then he turned to see the anxious look on Miyuki's face.

"Are you alright Miyuki?"

"Um…..yes, Onii-sama."

He nodded and turned towards Miya. Miyuki felt a sudden pang of disappointment, then Miya's words broke her pouting.

"Tatsuya, please close the blinds."

A request that he easily completed.

"Miyuki, I want your brother to give me the details of today's events…alone."

Miyuki tensed immediately, she suspected at once that her mother wished to separate her and Tatsuya.

"Please go into the office and close the blinds. I then want you to cast a sound deadening barrier against the wall to this room."

"Mother, there is no reason for me not to…."

"Please Miyuki, we are all exhausted and I really don't feel like having an argument with you about this."

"But mother, I have already seen…"

"Too much, and you don't need to hear the gruesome details."

Miyuki was preparing to stand her ground, when her legs were metaphorically cut out from under her.

"Miyuki, mother is right."

She whipped around towards him to protest, but he caught her by the shoulders, which stopped her instantly.

"Onii-sama, please I…"

"Please Miyuki, I don't….I don't want you to….."

She could see the turmoil in his eyes as he fought to keep her innocent of his actions and powers.

In the face of her precious Onii-sama's struggle, she yielded with a sigh.

"Very well."

"We will try to hurry Miyuki, but please stay in there patiently till I send Tatsuya in for you."

Miyuki still pouted but obeyed.

"Yes, mother."

Tatsuya led her into the office, then closed the binds to the windows between the two rooms.

Miyuki sat behind the desk.

"Do you need anything?"

"Only my Onii-sama, so please hurry back to me soon."

She could tell as he looked away that her words had embarrassed him, but before she could apologize he spoke to her.

"Then I must hurry back to your side."

They smiled shyly to each other, and then he closed the door behind him as he walked out.

Miyuki calmly activated her sound barrier magic, and once she was sure it was in place…

She sprang from the desk chair and closed all the other blinds in the room that showed the outside world. It had been bright enough from the sunlight alone beforehand so that the office lights weren't on. With the final blind closed Miyuki could see the light from the waiting room streaming in.

 _"Now, I have to find some way…"_

She knew if she tried to alter the sound barrier, just even a little, her mother would still detect it. So listening in was out of the question.

Her eyes frantically scanned the blinds between the rooms looking for a small…..

 _"AH! There it is!"_

One of the blinds hadn't closed all the way. The end was just barely open from the one below it.

Miyuki maneuvered herself to bend so that she could look out that tiny gap. She knew she couldn't get right on the blinds to look through it or she might be seen. Yet, if everything lined up right…..

 _"AH! YES!"_

She could see her mother sitting on the couch. It was perfect for what Miyuki planned to do, since she could see her lips full on.

 _"….Honami-chan…."_

It was Honami who had just started a few weeks back to teach Miyuki the art of reading lips. Just days before she had praised Miyuki for having picked up the talent so quickly. She had told her that it was "their little secret". Miyuki was so glad in this moment to have a piece of something with Honami that only they shared, and that she could use for the rest of her life.

Sudden movement beyond the blinds caught her attention.

 _"Not there Onii-sama!"_

His body suddenly blocked her view of Miya's face, but he was walking toward Miya, and soon stood directly in front of her. She then looked up at her son. Miyuki couldn't see Tatsuya's head, just his mid-section and the upper half of their mother's body along with her face.

Miya's lips moved and Miyuki strained to see them while she leaned sideways in the darkened office. Needless to say, as with the acceleration and deceleration magic beforehand, Miyuki could cast the sound deadening barrier virtually on instinct alone. Doing so prevented her from accomplishing her present task not in the least.

"…you to kneel here, son."

Miya looked upward towards where Miyuki knew her Onii-sama's face was.

 _"If only I could see his lips too!"_

After a few moments Miya's lips moved again.

"Please, so we can look at each other eye to eye."

Miyuki's excitement level jumped a bit. She didn't know why her mother wanted Tatsuya to kneel in front of her, but it surely wasn't to hear a report from him.

 _"What's going on? What's she doing?"_

After a few more moments of resistance, Tatsuya sank down before their mother. She could finally see his head, but the angle was too great to see his mouth.

Miyuki didn't let that frustrate her, since she really wanted to know what their mother was doing the most.

She looked at him, almost…..

 _"….tenderly?"_

Miyuki could feel her heart twinge. She had seen more motherly concern and love from Miya in the last ten minutes for her son than the rest of their lives combined had ever shown her.

 _"Momma! Tell him you love him, PLEASE!"_

She had already told him today she was proud of him, and why shouldn't she be. What mother couldn't be proud of such an amazing and wonderful son? In Miyuki's heart, she sincerely hoped that today was the day everything changed for all of them. She truly believed that only a few words from Miya could fix a lifetime of mistakes in this moment.

Then Miya's hands lifted towards Tatsuya's face. He instinctively and immediately pulled back from them.

 _"No Onii-sama! Let her in!"_

He stopped short of getting up, then Miya pleaded with him.

"Please…..my son."

He still looked on with trepidation at her, but allowed her to place both her hands on each of his cheeks. Then she lightly pulled him towards her. He seemed confused, and then…..

Miya kissed her son on the forehead.

 _"Oh MOMMA! I knew you loved Onii-sama! I KNEW IT!"_

A wave of warmth enveloped Miyuki's body. Pure joy seeped from her every pour. Tears formed once again in her eyes; but on this day of tears, finally tears of joy would be released. She randomly thought to herself that she needed to drink more water or else risk dehydration herself.

And then, as her Onii-sama looked at their mother in utter confusion and she back at him with only the bitterest of smiles, she pulled his face in closer to hers.

And then she….

 _"What…..what are you…"_

…kissed him on the lips.

 _"…um, well, that's good too….um…I guess."_

And then she really kissed him. It was…..intense, even passionate. She pulled him into her mouth the way a hungry lover kissed their object of desire.

 _"WHAT IN THE…"_


	3. Chapter 3: Despair

The extreme shock and utter confusion Miyuki felt was suddenly replaced by something more intense. That tiny but powerful voice deep inside her screamed out at her once again.

 _"…..HE'S MINE!"_

Even as she was stunned by her own thoughts, she embraced them without normal qualms. Even though he was her brother, her actual blood related full sibling, in her heart she knew on instinct that her Onii-sama was HERS.

Miyuki had to fight the urge to burst out of the room and confront her mother. Suddenly this wasn't a mother and her two children in Miyuki's mind, but two women fighting over the man they loved. All rational thought was bleeding out of her.

Then she saw Tatsuya's eyes swell open in shock as well. Next his hands grabbed their mother's fragile forearms and he tried to push away from her.

As their lips parted, even distracted by her outrage, Miyuki could feel something unexpected.

 _"Is that a…"_

It was tiny. Even highly trained magicians might miss it.

 _"…some type of….magic?"_

Suddenly as their head's pulled apart, a glowing orb of psions, tight around Tatsuya's head appeared. As their faces parted, the glowing "wisps" of some type of strange magic pulled away from Tatsuya's head as if Miya where pulling it from him.

 _"What in the world is this?"_

Then the magic "wisps" separated from Tatsuya and suddenly surrounded Miya's head.

Tatsuya, his head still in Miya's hands and his hands still clutching her arms, suddenly went limp. All the tension from before was gone. His head flopped to the side so Miyuki could finally see his face. He seemed…..

 _"….drunk?"_

She'd never seen him like this before. He looked utterly incapacitated. Even when he was asleep he looked ready to pounce at the slightest provocation. His sudden listlessness terrified her to her core. Suddenly any safety in this world she felt she had was gone from her.

Then she saw her mother, at the moment the magic "wisps" seemed to be absorbed into her head. The look of sudden pain would have been more appropriate had someone stabbed her in the head with an ice pick.

 _"MOMMA!"_

In her concern for both, the momentary jealousy she felt before was gone and forgotten.

Miya leaned her head back and breathed heavily. As she did she pulled the stupefied Tatsuya's head to her chest.

Had this loving scene happened before Miyuki witnessed the deployment of the strange magic, and the unexpected kiss, it would have melted her heart.

But now…..

Mother and son rested for a few moments, she cradling her son's head to her bosom while she seemed to stare blankly at the ceiling.

After what felt like an eternity Miyuki saw her mother's jaw moving. Tatsuya opened his eyes, as if recovered from the drunkenness of before. Miyuki read his lips.

"No, please."

Then Miya tilted her head forward and Miyuki could see her sorrowful eyes as she looked down at her son, who once again was trying to move away.

"There is no choice Tatsuya. Please don't struggle."

He pushed back harder, but he seemed to lack the energy to do so. She tilted his face up towards hers.

"No Momma. They belong to me. Please Momma. I can handle it. I can."

His frightened words made Miya flinch, but she spoke again.

"I know Tatsuya, you are so strong, but they are deadly for you."

And then she kissed him on the lips again.

This time Tatsuya seemed to lose the will to struggle instantly.

There was no jealousy in Miyuki's heart like before, there was no room inside there with all the sorrow and confusion she felt. She didn't understand what she was seeing, but she could feel it instinctively was wrong.

 _"Momma is taking something away from Onii-sama."_

The strange magic formed around their heads like before. This time the kiss was much more tender. A few moments later, and they parted again. The magic "wisps" once again going with Miya. Tatsuya's stupor returned, but when Miya absorbed the magic again, though still obviously painful for her, it didn't seem as bad.

He rested listlessly in her arms, as she breathed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose to fight back the pain.

"So much…...pain."

Miya's lips moved again. She then vaguely looked down at her son in his listless state.

"My poor baby."

 _"My poor…baby?"_

Miyuki's emotions and thoughts were being overwhelmed. Witnessing all of this, she couldn't seem to process what she was seeing.

 _"But if you love him this much…"_

She felt so empty and alone. She couldn't have felt more alien to this world if she had stepped off a spacecraft.

 _"….WHY?"_

She didn't even know what the "why" she screamed in her mind even meant; but it was intense, and it hurt her deeply to feel so confused and scared.

"Momma….."

A listless Tatsuya's lips moved, almost unreadable to her.

"….no more momma. I'm….hurting you."

 _"ONII-SAMA!"_

Tears feel uncontrolled from her eyes now.

 _"Stop momma! PLEASE STOP!"_

Words she wished to scream, but could only hold deep inside herself. She didn't even realize her own nails were digging into her thighs.

"My beautiful boy…this is the only time I can hold you like this."

Miyuki began to feel sick to her stomach. She was starting to tremble uncontrollably.

A third kiss between mother and son occurred then. Afterwards Tatsuya passed out completely in Miya's arms; but she herself looked near collapse, barely keeping him from slipping to the floor.

She laid her head back again listlessly, and then…

 _"Momma's…crying…"_

Miyuki's stable world which had cracked significantly under the weight of today's events was now completely shattered.

 _"It's not just the lie of 'Ani' I was fooled into…"_

Warm tears fell as she buried her face in her hands.

 _"...my whole life…everything I believed in….."_

She felt as if she'd retch up the scant contents of her stomach at any moment.

 _"…EVERYTHING!...WAS A!..."_

She looked up in despair at the ceiling above her.

 _"…lie."_

And the worst part for Miyuki was….

 _"…..why?"_

She didn't understand any of this. None of this seemed to fit with logic or reason.

Miyuki knew she was a strong magician, even for her age, but she also knew nothing she did for the rest of her life could ever compare to the awesome power she witnessed her thirteen year old brother wield today.

In addition he was a genius. He was top in the class in every subject. Even when they were in elementary school the teachers had wanted to promote him to higher class levels. All attempts were stifled by their mother.

He was amazing, a prodigy; and as far as Miyuki had ever seen or heard, no magician in the world had a power like she had witnessed today. Tatsuya could turn his enemies and their equipment to dust. He could raise up the dead to life again, and…..

 _"….he made the Sun appear on the surface of the Earth."_

And yet…

 _"They treat my Onii-sama like DIRT!"_

The servants, the other family members, Oba-sama, even their father.

 _"And mother…..I don't! …HOW? WHY?"_

Miyuki wallowed in her despair, trying to find answers to questions that were in themselves too outrageous to ask. She wondered who in a normal world, a normal life, would ever have to ask such ridiculous questions in the first place.

 _"A perfect son…..hated by everyone? And a mother that clearly loves him intensely….but denies him her affection and praise?"_

She wanted to scream her rage to the world, but she dare not, or risk exposing what she had just learned.

She rubbed her wet eyes and looked back into the reception room beyond. While she fought herself inside her own mind, her mother and her brother apparently both exhausted whatever energy they had left after this long day. Miya's head was leaning on top of Tatsuya's, whom she still held tight to her bosom.

Then Miya's head moved, and she weakly looked down at her sleeping son.

"One day….I hope you will understand."

And then she lightly kissed him on his forehead again as she gently stroked his hair.

 _"One day I hope I understand TOO!"_

Miyuki made this silent prayer in the highest sincerity.

When she looked back through the crack in the binds she was stunned to see her mother looking directly at her.

She had to restrain herself from flinching in reaction. If she moved even a bit, Miya would surely see it.

 _"But she's so far from the crack, and it's darker in here. Surely she's just looking at the window? She has no sight enhancing magic I know of."_

And then Miyuki remembered this new magic her mother had used on Tatsuya, and any confidence she had in her previous self-assuring statement was gone instantly.

 _"…you have surely surprised me today mother."_

Miya then turned back toward Tatsuya, and her lips moved again.

"Taking away your pain is the only thing I can give you to help my son."

And then she brushed back his mussed up hair.

"…..and of course her, but she will be more than enough."

 _"…her? Who is 'her''….."_

And then Miya, weak as she was, lifted Tatsuya into an upright position in front of her, still on his knees.

 _"…what now?"_

And she slapped him with all the strength left in her.

"EHHHHHH!"

Miyuki quickly covered her mouth to stifle her shocked scream. She knew the sound dampening barrier worked against the wall, door, and window between them; but it was a flat barrier and not encompassing. Her sudden scream would likely reach the soldiers standing guard outside, or even go around the barrier between the rooms.

Looking back into the room beyond, Tatsuya was on his feet and looking confused.

"Madam…..what…."

"I realize you have had a very active day. One might say a far too active day…"

She appeared to be irritated with him suddenly.

"…..but to pass out because of a little work? Perhaps your Guardian training needs to be further supplemented. Clearly you're losing fitness in some area."

 _"WHAT?"_

Miyuki couldn't take much more of this charade. Suddenly her mother went from shockingly loving to downright cold again.

See saw her Onii-sama straighten and could just make out the corners of his mouth.

"My apologies Madam, I have no excuse. I will redouble my endurance training."

She appraised him coldly with one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, see that you do."

Miyuki had had enough. She stood up and went to the far window, then opened the blinds. The late afternoon sunlight made her raw eyes water in response. The once busy gate was now virtually abandoned. She thought they probably rerouted traffic to avoid them seeing Tatsuya's handy work. She saw military aircraft in the sky on the horizon, and the smoke clouds were still bellowing upward, but nowhere nearly as intensely as earlier.

And then she saw Lieutenant Yanagi, vigilantly standing guard over…

She pinched her eyes closed in frustration, and to force the tears back down.

"Please….make this day end."

She didn't even know what deity she was asking to rescue her from her exhaustion, confusion, and despair. At this point, for Miyuki, any one of those that were listening would have been acceptable.

"Miyuki?"

She hadn't heard him come in. He had probably knocked first as well. In all her emotional turmoil, she never once stopped casting the sound dampening magic.

She spun around in surprise. Now Tatsuya's face contorted in concern. He clearly could see the emotional state she was in.

"Miyuki…are you…."

She ran at him, they were less than a meter apart but she flew at him, into his arms.

"ONII-SAMA!"

He caught her in mid-air.

Her arms wrapped around his head and she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

"Onii-sama."

"Yes….Miyuki?"

His concern for her welfare was radiating from his tone.

"I'm….so tired."

She felt guilty saying these words to Tatsuya, who had worked so hard today, but it was the truth. She was drained, of everything.

"I know…Miyuki. Come rest with mother."

She then pulled back and looked at him with concern.

"Are you OK Onii-sama? Are you alright?"

She could hear the desperate edge her words held.

"I…..am fine, Miyuki. Please do not worry for me."

 _"He's still calling me Miyuki!"_

She had been afraid that whatever her mother had done to him would have "damaged" all the new closeness they had developed this week.

"OH! Onii-sama!"

And she squeezed him tightly again, then he ran his hand lightly through her hair.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Somehow his simple hand movement drained away all the tension in her body.

After a few more reassuring moments in his arms, he gently guided her back into the waiting room.

Their mother sat on the couch, in a proper position, but everything else about her was like a wax model. There was no life anywhere but the movement of her breathing.

 _"Those eyes again….."_

Dead to the real world and looking off at something far away. Something…..

 _"….repulsive."_

Miya's cold eyes drifted slowly to her daughter.

"Are you alright Miyuki?"

Miyuki couldn't even force a smile for her mother at that moment, so instead she formed her mouth into a hard straight line.

"I'm fine mother. Are you alright?"

Miyuki's words sounded even to her own ears to be hollow of all emotion. Her question sounded more like a rhetorical question a scientist might ask a laboratory animal they had just infected with a deadly disease. No real response was expected for the question.

Miya responded as she looked away again to stare off towards something only her eyes could seem to see.

"As well as can be expected."

No emotion given, and none had been returned.

 _"Which of us is the scientist, and which lab rat?"_

Having felt like she'd been played with, that her Onii-sama had been played with, and abused for their entire lives; Miyuki couldn't help but ask her mother, even if only in her own mind this question, now that her world was exposed for the lie it was.

Into this empty void, Tatsuya spoke up.

"Madam, if you both are alright, may I relieve Lieutenant Yanagi?"

"MOTHER."

Miya and Tatsuya both turned at Miyuki's emphatic statement.

"Miyuki….I….."

"We call her 'mother' Onii-sama."

"Miyuki."

There was the rebuke again in her mother's tone. She turned and calmly looked at Miya then.

"Onii-sama, who is your Primary?"

He blinked for a moment, but responded with clarity.

"I am Miyuki-sama's….."

"No, no, no Onii-sama."

She wagged her right index finger with a genuine smile for her Onii-sama. He quickly understood why and smiled lightly at her mild chiding.

"I am…MIYUKI'S…Guardian."

Miya was the only one without a smile at this point, but she didn't frown in reproach either.

"It is Miyuki's wish, if Onii-sama will agree, that you call our mother 'mother' from now on, please."

She no longer had it in her to give him orders. Everything for her would from now on require Onii-sama's willing acceptance to have any validity.

"It will be as…..Miyuki…wishes."

Neither of them once looked toward the person in question for her consent. She sighed, she had done that more today than Miyuki could ever remember before. No other "public" display had indicated her weakened state so well. She turned away and whispered to herself lightly before replying.

"No changing her back now."

Miyuki had lip-read those words of her mother.

"Tatsuya, you may relieve the Lieutenant."

Then she spoke again.

"When the Captain returns show him in."

"Mother?"

Miya almost sighed again at Miyuki's prompting, clearly expecting her daughter to vex her further.

"Yes Miyuki?"

"I'd like to go outside too, I could use some fresh air."

Miya only pondered this for a few seconds before replying.

"Very well, then you can show the Captain back in when he arrives."

She turned disinterested eyes towards Tatsuya.

"You may relieve the Lieutenant."

"Yes mad…mother."

Miya showed only the slightest recognition that he almost fell into the old speech pattern again.

"Do you need anything before we step outside?"

Miya looked as if she were going to say something in response to Tatsuya's question, but it faded away and she vacantly shook her head side-to-side.

 _"It's too late Mother. You can wear your fake mask every day, but I have seen your TRUE face! I will never forget it! NEVER!"_

She saw Miya's true pain and anguish. She saw her shed tears for the son she acted like she despised. Nothing would ever be the same for Miyuki after today. She had seen the true strength of her Onii-sama, and the true heart of their mother.

Then Miya locked eyes with her daughter. All the emptiness she tried to radiate constantly in those eyes melted away. Miyuki saw through those eyes behind their mother's "mask" again. She wouldn't turn away from her mother's gaze. Then sudden recognition spread in Miya's eyes.

 _"Yes momma, I know who you really are inside."_

Pity and sympathy mixed in Miyuki's heart with love and anger. She knew her mother now better than she ever had before, and yet she had also discovered there were numerously more things about the woman that gave her life than she ever could have fathomed before.

In the eyes before her was a pain and loneliness Miyuki hoped she never would truly understand.

And the same question remained in Miyuki's heart.

 _"….why momma? Why?"_

"I'll return with the Captain, mother."

And with that Miyuki and Tatsuya stepped out onto the deck.

* * *

"Everything alright Special Officer?"

The Sergeant asked Tatsuya this question as they emerged from the guardhouse.

"Yes Sergeant, thank you."

The Sergeant replied.

"Yes Sir."

Miyuki again had to adjust to the glare of sunlight. Tatsuya gently guided her by the shoulder down the ramp of the deck. When they were far enough away from the two soldiers he whispered to her ear.

"Are you sure everything is OK Miyuki?"

She could see the concern in his eyes. She wanted to relieve his burdens as much as she could. She smiled brightly at him.

"Of course Onii-sama."

"I see…."

She was surprised when he raised his hands to her cheeks. Then suddenly relaxing, she allowed him to wipe away the residue of her numerous tears.

"Well, as well as your Miyuki can be today…."

Both their eyes drifted towards where Lieutenant Yanagi dutifully guarded the remains of their dear Honami.

"….under the circumstances."

"Indeed…"

He ran his hand over her hair again, and she allowed the warmth she felt from this action wash through her.

Then a suddenly serious look came to his visage.

"Miyuki, do you wish to…..see her, one more time?"

She looked sadly back at where Honami lay. After seriously pondering for a moment, she shook her head no.

"I…I don't want…..I…."

"I understand, you don't want to remember her like she is now, but how she was before?"

Miyuki smiled awkwardly up at him and nodded.

"I don't want to remember her like…"

She felt awkward suddenly. She remembered that Onii-sama knew nothing about her nightmares over seeing Eisaku-Oji-sama's body.

"…like the nightmares about Eisaku-Oji-ue?"

She looked up at him surprised and stunned.

"Onii-sama…how did…."

She looked away embarrassed then.

 _"Can Onii-sama read my mind too?"_

Tatsuya smiled down at his sister's stunned reaction.

"I'm your Guardian Miyuki, plus my bedroom is next to yours."

"Onii…..ah…"

She covered her mouth with her hand quickly once she realized she had it gaping open towards him in shock.

After a few moments to compose herself, she turned back towards him with pink cheeks.

"I…..did wonder once….how Honami-chan could hear me from downstairs."

Then she turned her eyes up in wonder.

"Onii-sama of course has always looked out for his Miyuki."

He smiled awkwardly back to her admiring gaze.

"And now Miyuki will start watching out for her Onii-sama as well."

She could hear the determination in her own voice.

After a few minutes to just take in some fresh air, she turned a serious expression to him.

"Onii-sama, are you certain you are really alright?"

He squinted momentarily, then answered with a smile.

"Yes Miyuki, just a little tired is….."

Then he turned suddenly back towards the direction of the main base area behind the guardhouse.

Miyuki followed his eyes, but she could see nothing unusual.

"What is it Onii-sama?"

She was ashamed of the fear she heard in her own voice. It had been a stressful day, but to her that was no excuse.

"The Captain and Lieutenant Sanada are returning. There's a female office with them."

Miyuki blinked in surprise. She turned her eyes back towards the base.

"But, I don't see…."

And then a military vehicle came out from behind what Miyuki thought was an aircraft hangar, and turned towards them.

"How did…."

Stunned eyes looked at Tatsuya again. He looked at her briefly with only the slightest awkward expression, then immediately went back to looking at the approaching vehicle.

 _"Stop acting so weird Miyuki. It's not like it's the first time Onii-sama has done THAT."_

Just a few days before, Tatsuya had detected a submarine approaching them while they were out sailing. She had been equally impressed then too.

 _"He'll tell you how when he's ready to."_

She buried her stunned curiosity and straightened out her sundress with her hands. Then put on her face the "mask" she had learned to use from Honami just days before.

"Shall we greet them Onii-sama?"

He looked back towards her and nodded.

"If you are ready?"

She nodded back, then they walked down the rest of the ramp to wait for the approaching vehicle.

Miyuki could feel Tatsuya directing intense interest towards the woman in the passenger seat. They were still a hundred or so meters away, but Miyuki could see that unlike Kazama and Sanada, who still worn combat suits like Yanagi and Tatsuya, this new person was wearing a Service Uniform. Miyuki knew this was almost the most formal military uniform, and was worn mostly in important military offices, and on semi-formal occasions, or by high ranking personnel.

 _"She's important."_

Then Miyuki saw the lady officer's eyes. They were clearly fixated on Tatsuya.

She leaned back on her seat and asked Kazama something. He looked at Tatsuya too, then nodded as he spoke. Then Miyuki could see her eyes return to Tatsuya, with a big smile.

 _"She's here for my Onii-sama!"_

Sudden fear flooded Miyuki's heart. Fear that her Onii-sama would be taken away from her. Then the ominous words of their mother floated again to the top of her mind.

"I wonder who else also got to watch his dramatic debut?"

Sanada brought the vehicle to a halt before them, and Kazama exited the back to offer the female officer a hand out of her seat. The vehicle was just high enough for it to be awkward for her to exit in a skirt without a hand. As the Captain helped the lady out, he nodded to Sanada, who went off in the direction where Yanagi was.

Miyuki recognized the so called "fruit salad" of medal and award ribbons on the new arrival's left uniform breast. If numbers and colors were enough of an indicator, this was someone with a lot of military experience.

Tatsuya stiffened beside her, then brought his right hand up to his right temple in salute.

The Captain and…..Miyuki thought her rank insignia was for a Full Colonel, both returned the salute. The Colonel never stopped smiling at Tatsuya. Miyuki thought that this had to be the first person they had met today, at least since he had destroyed the attacking forces, who wasn't afraid of Tatsuya.

Miyuki wished that the Colonel would have been at least a little afraid. Something in that smile was more ominous to Miyuki than all the terrified glances she had seen from others today combined.

When they lowered their hands, Kazama spoke first.

"Colonel, allow me to present Shiba Miyuki-san and her brother, Special Officer Shiba Tatsuya-san."

He then turned to the siblings, Tatsuya still at attention.

"Miyuki-san, Tatsuya-san, allow me to introduce you to Colonel Saeki Hiromi."

Tatsuya's eyes twitched just a tiny bit, not when he heard the Colonel's name, but when Captain Kazama had stopped speaking. It seemed to Miyuki that Tatsuya had expected more info.

Tatsuya saluted again. Miyuki took this as an indicator she should bow, and did so.

"Pleased to meet you ma'am."

"Indeed, we are honored to meet the base commander."

When she rose the Colonel was smiling at her, it was the first time she had looked at Miyuki.

"Thank you my dear, but I am not the base commander."

Tatsuya answered for them.

"Apologies ma'am, we had assumed…."

"No need for apologies Special Officer. The Captain didn't know I had arrived when he left you earlier."

"Was the Colonel at the frontlines during the battle?"

Saeki smiled with deprecation at Miyuki's question.

"Goodness no young lady. While I am combat experienced, my talents lay in a different area of military need."

She then nodded to Kazama, who explained.

"The Colonel is a specialist in magic combat organization and tactics. Specifically the organization of magic combat units to supplement regular forces in the field."

"I'm basically a facilitator. Familiar enough with magic to understand it's uses, but not strong enough in magic to use it in combat myself. I help the non-magician military leaders know how best to utilize our magic forces, like the major here, to augment and strengthen regular units."

"Understood ma'am."

Tatsuya replied to her, then she smiled back at him brightly and extended her hand to him. As he somewhat awkwardly shook her hand she spoke again.

"Young lady. All of Japan owes your brother a debt of gratitude. It is an honor to meet such a gifted and talented magician as him."

Tatsuya suddenly looked embarrassed, but Miyuki couldn't help but beam brightly. Like Kazama and his staff had said a few days before, Miyuki was pleasantly stunned again to hear such high words of praise for Tatsuya's magic, since she was used to hearing the opposite from the Family.

"Indeed Colonel, Onii-sama is the greatest magician in the world!"

All eyes turned to her emphatic proclamation. Saeki and Kazama soon smiled at her adoring words of praise, but Tatsuya seemed even more embarrassed than before.

Then Saeki turned that bright smile back to Tatsuya.

"Well my dear, from what we've seen today, you very well may be right."

Only now did Miyuki suddenly wish she had turned down her effusive praise of him. At this moment, Lieutenant Sanada silently rejoined the group.

Then Saeki smiled back at Miyuki.

"Are you also hiding amazing talents like your brother here young lady?"

Miyuki answered with extreme sincerity.

"Oh no Colonel! I'm highly talented, but nothing like Onii-sama!"

"I see….that's too bad."

Saying so, the Colonel looked at Tatsuya like he was a present she had begged her parents for and finally gotten.

After what felt like an awkward silence, Tatsuya spoke again.

"I only did what was necessary Colonel. It was Captain Kazama and his men that put me in a position where I could be of use. Without their efforts the enemy could not have been repulsed."

She nodded agreement.

"Indeed, many have excelled and sacrificed today. Some have given everything and all will be honored for it."

Tatsuya and Miyuki's eyes weren't the only ones to look in the direction where Honami's body was.

"But thanks to you, young man, many thousands of our forces, and hundreds of thousands of civilians here on Okinawa are alive and well. Your modesty is admirable son, but you have surely earned the praises and thanks that you have received, and much more."

Miyuki and the Colonel certainly agreed on that point. Miyuki nodded her thanks to the Colonel as Tatsuya nodded with awkwardness.

"I understand your mother is here?"

Miyuki answered the Colonel's question.

"Our mother awaits you inside. Please follow me."

Miyuki turned back up the ramp and Tatsuya saluted again.

"With the Colonel's permission, I'd like to relieve Lieutenant Yanagi."

The three military officers all looked back to where Yanagi was standing and showed sympathetic expressions.

"The Captain explained to me about your servant."

"Sakurai Honami-san was our mother's servant Colonel, not mine."

A brief twitch flickered across Saeki's face. She didn't seem to understand the difference, since most servants serve whole families. She didn't pry any further.

"I see."

She then put a maternal hand on Tatsuya's upper arm.

"We all owe her a great debt as well. I promise you Tatsuya-san, her sacrifice was not in vain."

Miyuki appreciated the words, but she knew exactly what the Colonel really meant by them.

 _"Because Honami-chan saved Onii-sama's life, and now the military wants to exploit Onii-sama for themselves."_

Then Miyuki smirked a bit.

 _"We shall see about that Colonel."_

Miyuki was indoctrinated in the Family's mystique enough to assume that even the Self Defense Forces would back down before Oba-sama's wicked smile.

* * *

Miyuki led the military officers to the door of the guardhouse as Tatsuya moved towards the vehicle with Honami's body. She couldn't help but spare him a final look. He seemed so strong, so confident, but Miyuki knew he had to be breaking inside as he was before. Yet she couldn't help feel that whatever magic their mother had applied to him had changed him somehow. He was acting just as he did before she had been shot.

Miyuki turned back and rapped her knuckles on the door. Then a few seconds later she opened it and called within.

"Mother, Captain Kazama has returned with a visitor. Are you ready to receive them?"

A weak yet authoritative voice replied from within.

"Show them in Miyuki."

"Yes mother."

Miyuki turned to the military officers.

"Our mother will see you now."

The officers filed into the room with the Colonel following Sanada and Kazama coming in last. They lined up before the couch opposite the one Miya sat on in that order. Miyuki followed them in and closed the door.

"Mother, please allow me to introduce Colonel Saeki Hiromi. Colonel, please allow me to introduce our mother, Shiba Miya."

The Colonel smiled and nodded to Miya.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Shiba-san. We can't thank your family, especially young Tatsuya-san, enough for the service you have rendered for the nation today."

Miya nodded back without standing.

"Thank you Colonel. I hope you will forgive me for not standing to greet you, but we have had a fatiguing day."

"Of course Shiba-san, completely understandable."

"Please don't continue standing on my account Colonel. I know the Captain and Lieutenant have also had a strenuous day. It will also make the conversation more pleasant."

"Thank you Shiba-san."

"Indeed, thank you very much."

Kazama and Sanada replied to her offer, but they were dutiful as officers to wait for the Colonel to seat herself first before joining her, despite what had to be their exhausted states.

"Thank you very much Shiba-san."

The Colonel added her thanks as well.

"Miyuki, offer our guests a beverage."

Miyuki was momentarily stunned by her sudden loss of decorum, but quickly recovered. She bowed toward the officers.

"Please forgive me, would you care for a beverage?"

All three officers looked at her in mild amusement, then they looked towards Miya again. The Colonel spoke up.

"Since this is a military base, it is we who should offer your family hospitality. Our apologies."

Miya waved her hand lightly as she dismissed the need for an apology.

"I'm afraid my little brood has taken over your guardhouse and we've quite made it our own. My apologies Colonel."

Miyuki had already removed three water bottles and offered them to the officers. They each thanked her with a nod and a smile.

"Shiba-san…"

The Colonel again addressed Miya.

"….may we also offer our condolences on the death of Sakurai Honami-san. I have agreed with the Captain's suggestion that Sakurai-san be named a Special Officer of the Self Defense Forces so that her family can receive her combat death benefits, and any compensation we ring out of the heinous people that sponsored this barbaric attack. If you can provide us with the information, we'll see that they receive her benefits."

Miya replied to the request in a matter-of-fact manner.

"I'm afraid Honami-san had no living relatives or other beneficiaries."

The Captain and Sanada both seemed mildly disturbed to hear this.

"She would be honored to have been named a Special Officer though, and I know it will mean a lot to my children to have her named so as well."

The officers smiled shyly towards Miyuki, who nodded her solemn agreement with her mother's words.

Her mother continued.

"If she is owed a benefit from her actions today, you may contribute it to the relief efforts here on Okinawa. She would have probably done that herself."

A solemn pause happened then. Into the silence Miyuki spoke.

"Please forgive my interrupting. Mother, may I join Onii-sama?"

"No Miyuki, come sit down."

Everyone seemed surprised by Miya's words.

"Shiba-san, what we need to discuss might be considered a very adult topic. Perhaps it would be best for Miyuki-san to not be present."

Miya smirked at the Captain's suggestion.

"There's nothing we can possibly discuss today that my daughter shouldn't hear."

Mild surprise shown on the officers' faces.

"If….you are certain Shiba-san?"

Miya nodded to the Colonel.

"Absolutely certain."

Miyuki moved towards the seat next to Miya with only the slightest hesitation and disappointment showing on her face.

Then Miya completely changed the mood of the room with one statement.

"After all, she and I were shot by your soldiers today, what can you say that could possibly rank beside that event?"

Miyuki saw the three officers' eyes widen, and then their faces paled in embarrassment. Miyuki knew her own eyes had opened much wider at her mother's sudden change of topic.

"Um….yes, about that Shiba-san….."

"It's alright Colonel, I don't blame any of you directly. I know that the Captain's men are here training the Onna Airborne, and that the men that attacked us were simple Mundanes."

The rather flippant and rude way of referring to "normal", non-magic wielding humans; was intentionally used by Miya to increase the tension, despite her words indicating the contrary.

"As for you Colonel, since I know you weren't on the base before the attack began, you certainly aren't to blame for the failures of the Self Defense Forces today. The base commander on the other hand has a great deal to answer for."

This fragile looking woman, who seemed as if a strong gust of wind might blow her away; had blown away the expectations of the three military officers in the room.

"Hypersonic transport Colonel?"

They were further stunned by her words.

"But…..how….."

"Simple Colonel. Your service branch emblem indicates you're a communications specialist, but we were already in your communications bunker here. Surely you would have been there had you been on base."

"I see…."

Then Miya threw another bombshell at them.

"I of course knew you weren't on the island before the attack began as well, so hypersonic transport is the only way you could have got here in time, assuming you weren't on your way already on a regular aircraft when the attack began."

"Shiba-san, how could you possibly know who was on our base, or this island?"

Miya smiled indulgently at the Captain's confusion with a mild laugh.

"Just like you and your two lieutenants aren't officially on this base right now, right Captain?"

The three officer exchanged questioning looks.

Miya let none of their questions reach their mouths.

"You have something serious to discuss with me Colonel?

The Colonel was only slightly flustered by the sudden shift, but rolled on with it since it was Miya redirecting the topic to Saeki's desired discussion point.

"Indeed Shiba-san, we have some serious things to discuss."

Miya lightly laughed at this.

"Is that a euphemism Colonel?"

Kazama replied seriously to Miya instead of Saeki.

"Shiba-san, I'm surprised by your calm attitude, you don't seem the least surprised by the things we've all seen Tatsuya-san do today."

She directed a flippant look towards him.

"What kind of mother would I be if I didn't know my own children and their abilities?"

"Shiba-san, are you saying you knew about Tatsuya-san's strategic class magic and said nothing about it to the authorities?"

Sanada's question brought Miya's eyes to him, along with a slight sneer.

"Are you suggesting I have some type of obligation to expose my children to governmental scrutiny simply due to their talent level Lieutenant? Because I can assure you I feel no such obligation."

The Colonel clearly thought this conversation was going in a bad direction. She moved to redirect the topic.

"Let's table that discussion for another time, since it has no direct bearing on what we need to discuss right now. Shiba-san, you seem to know a great deal about your son's abilities. Would you mind explaining to us about his exceptional magical talents?"

Miyuki thought that surely now Miya would shut them down completely, but to her surprise her mother became effusive.

"Since you have already seen most of his limited talents on display, it would seem pointless to prevaricate now."

She looked away from everyone with that distant look again, and then began to speak.

"Of course Tatsuya isn't really a magician at all."

This made the gathered military members exchange questioning looks. Miya didn't allow them time for questions though.

"Modern magic is defined as phenomenon alteration and Tatsuya is particularly poor at altering phenomenon."

The Colonel asked what her two colleagues clearly thought.

"Shiba-san, what exactly would you call the amazing….skills, your son demonstrated today?"

Miya only looked vaguely interested as she responded.

"What would I call it? I suppose 'curse' describes it best."

More confused and stunned looks followed.

"Of course being a magician with such fundamentally terrifying magic skills would seem daunting for someone Tatsuya-san's age…."

"You just met my son Colonel so it's natural you'd assume he's callow and unsure like 'normal' youths. Captain, Lieutenant; since you have already spent time with him, would either of you describe Tatsuya as 'daunted'?'

The Colonel looked first to Kazama, and then Sanada. The answer was the same from them both. A solemn headshake to indicate Tatsuya was indeed unique among his age group.

"Tatsuya is no normal boy. He has been trained since his youth to harness the limited magic skills he possess….."

"Trained by whom?"

"Mostly by me Captain, with assistance from my family."

"Limited you say? Forgive me for intruding Shiba-san, but there seems to be nothing 'limited' about Tatsuya-san's talents in the…"

"As I said before Lieutenant, my son has limited 'magic' skills. Magic is fundamentally defined as phenomenon alteration. Tatsuya has virtually no skill at phenomenon alteration and is thus considered a poor magician by default."

There was a long pause in Miya's words. Miyuki could feel the tension build as Sanada listened intently to her mother's next words.

"Instead, Tatsuya destroys and rebuilds phenomenon. In his specific case, matter. In this respect Lieutenant you are correct, there is no known limit to his ability to destroy and rebuild matter."

The Colonel seemed to not fully comprehend what Miya had said.

"Shiba-san, your son just destroyed six enemy warships. Are you saying he can do even more than that?"

Miyuki could feel herself tense.

 _"Please mother, stop telling them so much about Onii-sama."_

Miyuki was convinced they would only be more insistent on taking Tatsuya from them the more they knew of him. Miya instead deflected the Colonel back onto the previous topic.

"Colonel, shall I proceed to explain more about my son's unique abilities now?"

The Colonel nodded back to Miya.

"If you would Shiba-san."

"Decomposition of course is familiar to you, though you certainly have never seen it displayed to such an effective level before. Tatsuya has an exceptionally high psion count. He can use that to project Decomposition across a wide area. Most Decomposition users are limited in scope and intensity, rarely capable of disassembling even one simple component. Tatsuya doesn't have a limit in that area, as you could see from his work around your gate today."

The Colonel swallowed hard before speaking.

"And he did all of…that, with just Decomposition?"

Miya nodded back lightly.

"He did it without a CAD too."

The Colonel's eyes really went round as she looked back toward Kazama's statement.

"Truly a…remarkable skill."

Miya looked away vacantly as she continued.

"Of course you really want to know about his ultimate Decomposition magic, Material Burst."

The three officers all perked up.

"Is that the name of his…."

"Yes Colonel. Lieutenant, no offense to your colleagues here, you seem to be the most technically minded member of your group present."

Sanada couldn't help but look awkwardly at his two superior officers, worried someone that his answer might offend them. To his relief Kazama answered for him.

"I believe that is a fair assessment of his abilities Shiba-san."

Miya smiled deviously towards Sanada then.

"Then surely the Lieutenant is familiar with Einstein's matter/energy conversion equation?"

Sanada blinked a few times, then his face went into shock as he comprehended her words.

"Good God! Are you saying…that Tatsuya…"

As he fumbled for his words his superiors questioned him.

"What is it Sanada?"

"…Energy is equal to matter times the square of the speed of light. The conversion of matter into energy. Can he really convert matter into energy?"

Miya, with a stoic expression, nodded as she answered.

"Yes Lieutenant. Material Burst is the name we have given for Tatsuya's innate ability to use Decomposition to break apart matter beyond the subatomic level into pure energy."

Sanada was pale from the shock, then he turned that expression towards Kazama.

"Sir, that's what he was doing with the bullets! It was the bullets that were the matter he used to convert into energy! That's where the explosion came from, the bullet's mass!"

It was the Colonel who replied to this statement.

"Wait, Lieutenant, are you saying the explosion that took out the attack fleet and pushed a three meter high wave up onto this island was produced by sniper rifle bullets?"

Sanada, with an amazed and fascinated look, shook his head at her.

"No ma'am, not bullets. It was just one, singular, bullet's mass."

"Just a few grams of weighted metal…that was all it took."

Kazama finally seemed to understand as he whispered this amazed statement at an almost imperceptible volume.

Even Miyuki couldn't help but be amazed at her Onii-sama's power and ability.

Miya looked almost sympathetically at her "captive" audience.

"Tatsuya has but to perceive an object, either by directly looking at it or through video feed, and he can decompose it. With Material Burst he accelerates matter at the speed of light times the speed of light. The result is the decomposition of even the subatomic particles, and then …..well, you have seen the explosion, right Colonel?"

Saeki vacantly nodded affirmation as the full weight of Tatsuya's Material Burst fell onto her mind at once.

"Do you see that paperweight on the coffee table between us?"

The three officers looked at it with varying degrees of trepidation. As if the paperweight would suddenly explod like a grenade in front of them. Even Miyuki was suddenly afraid of it.

"Would you like to explain what would happen if my Tatsuya converted that to energy Lieutenant?"

She smiled lightly at the obviously disturbed young man.

"That has at least six to eight times the mass of a bullet. If he….well, none of us would be alive, that's certain."

Saeki and Kazama both looked at him wide eyed.

"This island would probably not exist anymore, certainly not in its current configuration. The resultant Tsunami would have wiped out any initial survivors. Perhaps a few earthquakes would be triggered, even back in the Home Islands."

Saeki and Kazama turned their stunned expressions back to Miya. She calmly finished a sip of her water before continuing.

"Now imagine if he converted one of your trucks out there to energy. It's certainly not beyond his ability to do so. That explosion would surely crack the crust layer of the Earth. The resulting volcanos, earthquakes, and tsunamis would seem minor compared to the blast effects themselves. Might even push the Earth out of its current path around our Sun. Certainly an extinction level event."

Miyuki felt as if the hand of death had touched her. A shiver ran up and down her spine. The three military officers didn't look much different from her. They all just sat there with stunned looks as Miya calmly took another swig of water.

Finally, Kazama found his tongue again.

"And…..you thought it was a good idea to not tell the authorities about him?"

Miya smirked back at him.

"So they could use my son as a weapon Captain? A tool to bring death and destruction beyond a comprehensible scale? Of course I didn't expose him to the government or the military. All the more reason not to."

Miyuki could hear the scorn she used in her statement. No one present couldn't sense her complete lack of faith in "the authorities".

"How did he track the bullet?"

The tension was broken by Sanada's simple question.

"Shiba-san, you said he required visual confirmation to convert matter to energy, but he can't possibly see as far as the bullet went when he activated Material Burst. How did he do it then?"

"Ah!"

Miya seemed genuinely delighted at Sanada's question.

"I already explained that Tatsuya is a poor magician with no significant phenomenon alteration skills."

Sanada nodded as everyone waited for Miya's explanation.

"This was because his magic calculation area in his brain was dominated by Decomposition. So we used Mental Interference magic to give him an artificial magic calculation area."

All three officers blinked in confusion at her.

"…..you did what?"

"How is that….even possible?"

"…it's not. At least, it shouldn't be."

Miyuki could see they were just as stunned by this revelation as the true power of Material Burst had been to them before.

"Setting aside your understandable doubts…"

Miya continued on unperturbed.

"…the results of the artificial magic calculation surgery were disappointing to say the least."

She looked slightly disappointed with that particular memory.

"However, there were some beneficial side effects. One of which was that Tatsuya now had the ability to view Eidos in the information plain."

"I'm sorry….what?"

Miya smiled sympathetically at the still stunned Sanada.

"Tatsuya's subconscious now has enough processing power to convert psion data into an understandable format his conscious mind can use to 'see' the Eidos information plain. We call this ability Elemental Sight."

Even Miyuki was stunned. No wonder Tatsuya could detect submarines and torpedoes under water. No wonder he knew about the approaching vehicle before they were even in sight.

"So he could watch a bullet from several kilometers away, even during its flight trajectory, and at supersonic speeds?"

Kazama asked with an incredulous look on his face, but all Miya did was lightly nod to him in answer.

"Shiba-san, Tatsuya seemed to do something to the bullets in his hands before reloading them. Was that part of the process for using Elemental Sight?"

"He must have decomposed and then reconstituted the bullets Lieutenant. As I have said, he has to 'see' the matter to convert it. Having decomposed and reconstituted the bullets lets him imprint them into his mind so that it is easier to track them. It's not necessary for the use of Elemental Sight in general though."

The Colonel reasserted herself with a question next.

"Recompose, is that the technique he used to revive our injured soldiers?"

"We call that Regrowth, which is the reversal of Decomposition. Where Decomposition breaks down the bonds of molecules and atoms, Regrowth puts them back together. That of course is an oversimplified summation of a very complicated process; but it contains the basic essence of how he can recompose things that have been previously decomposed or otherwise damaged."

"Like dead soldiers?"

Kazama was serious in his question, today he had witnessed Tatsuya reviving mortally wounded comrades with what looked like relative ease.

"If he could revive the dead Captain then Honami would be alive and with us now."

Miyuki hoped her mother didn't notice her agitation over what she just heard. Tatsuya had saved them both and Honami from death earlier that day. Now Miya was claiming, in Miyuki's mind, that Tatsuya didn't do the things she knew he did. She was both angry and confused.

"Tatsuya has no control over life and death Captain, only control over physical objects' conditions. If what we think of as the 'soul' or 'spirit' has not yet dissipated, then resorting the body to a functional condition is all it takes to 'revive' someone from the 'dead'."

"But…..surely Onii-sama could have fixed Honami then?"

All eyes turned towards Miyuki's gentle and sad question with sympathy. Miya looked at her with soft eyes to explain.

"Psions are, in simplistic terms, 'life' particles. Even non-magicians possess psions, just not enough to use magic. Tatsuya cannot create psions, and so when a magician uses up all their psions, then their life force will naturally dissipate. Restoring the physical body will have no effect on this."

Miyuki fought the urge not to cry again. Seeing this, Miya gently stroked her head.

"Shiba-san, how can Tatsuya possibly reconstitute something as complicated as a human body? Based on what you have told us so far in order to use Regrowth, he must first decompose the object. Yet we saw no evidence of him decomposing our soldiers before restoring them."

"Another beneficial side effect of the artificial magic calculation area Captain. While he can't use Regrowth and Elemental Sight at the same time, there's more than enough subconscious processing ability to allow him to review local Eidos in its entirety for up to twenty four previous hours. He can then localize on what he wishes to restore and using its Eidos information, reconstitute it to an earlier form."

"Shiba-san, how do….."

Sanada was stopped from asking for more details by the raised hand of Colonel Saeki.

"We've heard enough technical details for now Lieutenant. We need to move on."

Saeki's eyes took on a hard edge as she focused across the coffee table towards Miya. For her part, Miya simply looked back at her with unexpressive eyes. Neither woman appeared to give way before the other.

"Shiba-san….."

Colonel Saeki, at least in the brief time Miyuki had known her, seemed very tolerant and laid back for an officer of such high rank in the Self Defense Forces. Yet now Miyuki saw her take on a stern and authoritative posture.

"…unprecedented Decomposition powers. The ability to restore objects to working order, including the human body. The ability to see the information plain up to twenty four hours in the past. And of course…..Material Burst. Did we miss anything?"

Miya smirked lightly back at her.

"Seems to be accurate Colonel."

Saeki clinched her jaw at Miya's nonchalant response.

"And you have known of his abilities for how long?"

Miya just blinked uninterestedly back towards the Colonel as she replied.

"Decomposition and Material Burst we have known of since his birth. Regrowth and Elemental Sight came after the artificial magic calculation area was created."

"And you said that it was done using Mental Interference magic?"

Miya turned toward Kazama and answered him with a nod.

"That kind of Mental Interference ability simply doesn't exist Shiba-san."

For some reason Miyuki sensed that her mother liked Lieutenant Sanada. She smiled genuinely towards him when he asked questions. Miya was a scientist by nature, so Miyuki assumed her mother found Sanada to be a kindred spirit in that way.

"Now Lieutenant, this morning many things you believed to be impossible were already proven to be reality, were they not?"

Sanada blinked in response as he processed her statement.

"And you have managed to keep him hidden from the world for thirteen years?"

Miya smiled indulgently towards Kazama then.

"And I would have kept him hidden longer had the Self Defense Forces done a better job of protecting this island."

"Who performed the Mental Interference magic surgery on him Shiba-san?"

There was only fascinated curiosity radiating from Sanada now. Miya seemed to appreciate his enthusiasm.

"Well, it was someone who had the understanding and the rare Mental Interference talent to perform something so radical and difficult."

Her smile was genuine. In reaction Sanada's eyes widened. She continued speaking.

"Risking one's own child's life on something so unknown and dangerous isn't the type of thing a mother would leave in the hands of someone else Lieutenant."

Now Sanada's jaw dropped open as his eyes bore into Miya's slightly entertained expression. Sudden recognition spread across his face. Seeing this Miya nodded with a smile towards him.

"That's…..but that's not…."

"What is it Sanada?"

Miya replied to the Captain's question before Sanada could.

"I think your young Lieutenant has had a sudden realization."

Sanada was still stunned as he replied.

"But….if that is who you are…then all the rumors were just…"

"Lies, Lieutenant."

"Pardon me, but what exactly is going on here?"

The Colonel didn't try to hide her frustrations with Sanada at this point.

"The Lieutenant has had a bit of a shock Colonel. He has seen a ghost."

Her mild laugh at this point only heighten the tension in the room. Miyuki knew this was her mother's true purpose. She had become the dominant voice in the room.

"Forgive me Colonel. I always get tickled by people's reactions in these circumstances."

The Colonel furrowed her brows in frustration. Instead of turning towards the stupefied Lieutenant she bore in again on Miya.

"I'm a communications specialist Shiba-san, and I have read your file, and that of your family. Your husband is a vice president of research at Four Leaves Technology, you're a house wife according to our files."

Then the Colonel turned sharp eyes toward Miya again.

"I have looked at information long enough that I know on instinct when something is garbage and disinformation. Whoever put together your family's file is a genius, but I can still recognize crap when I see it."

Miyuki tensed up, but Miya's smile only increased.

"This is a very serious situation Shiba-san, yet you seem to have a 'devil-may-care' attitude about your son being exposed as the most powerful magician in recorded history. That's not a normal reaction for a mother to have, even if she does know all of her child's extreme abilities."

The two women faced off across the room at each other. The tension in the room made Miyuki want to flee.

"Your child's future is on the line Shiba-san, your custody of him is on the line. I suggest you answer me truthfully now."

Miyuki looked on with terror in her heart.

 _"She's going to take away my Onii-sama! Stop her momma, PLEASE!"_

"Who exactly ARE you Shiba-san?"

Miya looked away with a smile and a laugh, which only made Saeki angrier.

"…The Mistress of Lethe?"

Kazama had suddenly joined Sanada in utter shock. They looked over the Colonel towards each other, Sanada solemnly nodded agreement.

"Who? Speak plainly Captain."

"Such a grandiose nickname, but somewhat more elegant than Demon Lady of the East."

Miya smiled indulgently at them.

Miyuki admired the Colonel's self-control, despite her obvious irritation. When her subordinates still could not react due to mutual astonishment, she calmly pressed them.

"Captain, Lieutenant, explain yourselves?"

"It's not their fault Colonel, I'm supposed to be dead, or in a vegetative state in a hospital bed awaiting death. Please allow me to reintroduce myself. I am indeed Miyuki and Tatsuya's mother, Shiba Miya; but I'm better known by my maiden name."

The officers were all intently listening to her now.

"I am a daughter of the Ten Master Clans and the world's foremost authority and user of Mental Interference Magic. I am the eldest child and daughter of our former clan head Genzou and his lady wife Yasuyo. I am the elder twin sister of our current clan head, who is known as the Demon Lady of the East. I am known by the somewhat creative and interesting nickname of The Mistress of Lethe."

The Colonel had joined her subordinates in their shock and sudden clarity. Her eyes were as wide as theirs. They now all knew they were sitting across the table from a woman who was claimed could control whole armies with her mind. A woman that had supposedly been dead or incapacitated for more than two decades. A living breathing ghost.

"I am Miya…..of the Yotsuba."


	4. Chapter 4: Guilt

Even Miyuki was surprised her mother revealed their true identities. Using the Yotsuba name was an indication of how serious their situation was, especially since their mother was loathe to do so.

The three officers sitting across from them looked dumbfound towards Miya, who simply took another sip from her water bottle.

The Colonel looked down then as she realized Sanada was passing her his information terminal. From her position Miyuki could tell that the image of her mother's twin sister was displayed. Both Kazama and Saeki looked down at it for a few moments, then all their eyes returned to Miya.

"We of course don't look exactly alike, even with identical twins there are subtle differences. We do look enough alike that we both chose different styles of dress and hair though. I can't imagine trying to deal with all that hair like she does. A waste of time as far as I'm concerned."

Her flippant attitude in this situation began to frustrate her daughter intensely, but the military officers were too stunned to be offended by her lackadaisical words.

Then Miya went off in another direction.

"Colonel, did you silence your information terminal before coming in here?"

"I'm…..I'm sorry, what?"

She blinked as she tried to register Miya's words.

"I made a call a little while ago while the Captain went to retrieve you. I suspect that enough time has passed for your superiors to have contacted you. If they haven't tried already, they soon will."

"But….um….Yotsuba-dono, that shouldn't be possible. The enemy took out all the civilian communication services and the military ones are locked out to civilian usage."

Miya turned another genuine smile towards the curious Sanada. If Miyuki didn't know better she would have thought her mother was attracted to him and was flirting. Even the idea alone was enough to irritate her further.

"First, Lieutenant, I didn't suddenly get a divorce. 'Shiba-san' is fine."

Sanada blushed profusely at her sultry sounding words.

"Sorry…..Shiba-san."

Miyuki was surprised and agitated to see Sanada react this way towards her mother. Not only was she a married woman, but there was a greater difference in their ages than there was between the Lieutenant and Miyuki.

Then Miyuki looked at her mother with disapproval. She clearly was enjoying his reaction to her. Miyuki had never seen her mother act this way, ever. The phrase "could be your son" drifted across Miyuki's consciousness.

 _"How can you flirt while Onii-sama's life is on the line mother?"_

"Second, Lieutenant, we have already discussed about new realities that we had previously thought were impossible before, right?"

Sanada only lightly nodded to this, still somewhat embarrassed.

 _"First she deep kisses her on son, now she's flirting with young men?"_

Miyuki didn't realize she had crossed her arms and was pouting. She was well past her emotional limits for one day and to her surprise it was her mother dragging her further across her emotional tolerance line.

While all this was going on, the Colonel had retrieved her data device from a pocket. Apparently, from the surprised look on her face, she had missed a few calls. Then another call surprised her as she was holding the device in her hand.

"Um…uh, please excuse me Shiba-san."

She went to leave, but Miya waved her back down into her chair.

"Since it's about us Colonel, don't bother leaving."

Saeki looked like she was still going to leave anyway, but then Miya applied additional pressure.

"I'm sure it's from someone important. Best not keep them waiting any longer on our account."

Saeki, somewhat reluctantly, answered the call as everyone else but Miya looked on with interest.

"Saeki here…yes, yes I can hold."

As she waited she exchanged a questioning glance with Kazama. She didn't have to wait long.

"Um…..yes, yes this is Colonel Saeki….yes, um…YES SIR!"

Everyone's eyes grew rounder as she placed surprised emphasis on her last words. Her own eyes went round in surprise at the voice on the other end of the line.

"No sir….yes, I do recognize your voice. I have heard it many times on broadcasts."

Kazama and Sanada exchanged curious glances before refocusing on their superior.

"Yes sir…..thank you very much sir but I really didn't play a part in the conflict itself….yes, thank you sir….yes sir, he's here beside me now."

She looked at the perplexed Kazama then.

"Yes sir….I will give him your message. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Again Kazama and Sanada exchanged questioning looks.

"…..yes sir…..yes sir, she is here with us now."

The Colonel's eyes went towards the disinterested looking Miya then.

"No sir, she's uninjured…..her children are well too. We will make sure they have everything they need."

Then the Colonel became slightly agitated.

"Sir, are you aware of what exactly happened here today…..yes sir, no, of course sir…..yes sir, but the boy…."

Miyuki tensed then, she knew exactly who "the boy" was.

Then the Colonel looked surprised as she listened.

"You have sir?...yes, that is great news sir."

Suddenly Miya displayed interest in the Colonel's conversation for the first time.

"…..They have sir? Really?"

The Colonel's eyes flicked momentarily towards Miya. Miyuki didn't think anyone else would have noticed if they were looking directly at her, but she could tell her mother was growing tenser.

"…yes, that is extremely good news sir...no sir, I'm ready to get straight to work sir, we have had the plans in place and were just waiting for the go signal sir."

Miyuki saw Kazama and Sanada exchange curious glances again.

"…..yes sir. As soon as I return I will report directly to you sir…yes, I will make them the offer sir…no, we'll take good care of the Shiba's sir."

Then the Colonel's eyes widened again.

"Major General sir?...no sir, I am honored…..yes sir…no, they'll be gratified to hear it sir."

She looked with satisfaction towards her confused subordinates. Then as she listened a slight irritation came across her face.

"…..um, yes sir…no, mother will enjoying meeting you too sir."

Kazama and Sanada, still confused, seemed to register some amusement at the Colonel's sudden lack of enthusiasm.

"No sir, we'll see to it…yes sir, I look forward to it as well. Again sir, my thanks….yes sir…..yes, you as well….goodbye."

And with that Saeki turned off her data device and stared at it blankly as her subordinates patiently stared at her in anticipation of an answer to their own curiosity. Miyuki now too wished to know who she had been on the phone with.

Then Saeki looked up across to Miya, who still seemed, at least to those that didn't know her well, to be disinterested.

There was no hostility in that look, or fear. From her mother's still increasing tension Miyuki could tell that she had hoped to see something different in the Colonel's eyes. If Miyuki had to guess, her mother had wanted to see the Colonel show frustration or at least defeat. Instead Miyuki thought the Colonel's eyes showed…anticipation.

"That was the Prime Minister."

Again her subordinates were shocked, but Miyuki could see her mother's eyes momentarily squint with this news.

"He wished for me to extend his concern for you and your family Shiba-san, and to offer you the full assistance of the Self Defense Forces and the government."

Miya replied with a slight smirk.

"Did he? How gracious of him."

Miyuki detected no gratitude in her mother's words. Then a smirk crossed Miya's expression.

"Are congratulations in order….Major General?"

Saeki blushed only slightly before replying.

"Indeed, my rank increase is incumbent on my new appointment, but yes, I am now a Major General."

Beside her, Kazama could not help but speak up at this news.

"Sir, does that mean….."

"Yes, MAJOR Kazama, but I will discuss the details with you and CAPTAIN Sanada later."

Both men were pleasantly stunned by their own apparently sudden rank increases, but Miyuki seemed to sense that something else had pleased them more. She couldn't quite put her finger on why she felt this way, but it also made her feel a growing sense of foreboding.

"Then it's congratulations all around."

"Thank you very much Shiba-san."

"Indeed, thank you."

Before anyone could speak again, another call came in on the new General's data device. It was obviously another unknown number by indication of her perplexed facial expression.

She answered it the same as the call from the Prime Minister before.

"Saeki here…yes I can hold."

A few moments later her expression change indicated someone had started speaking to her again. Then her eyes went round and her mouth slightly parted. Whoever was on the other end of that phone call was clearly more surprising to her than even the Prime Minister of Japan had been.

 _"Would the Emperor make a call to her?"_

Miyuki knew that the Emperor of Japan wasn't a political figure in this day and age, but was still the symbol of national unity. In her youthful mind it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility for a general at the front lines to receive a congratulatory call from the titular head of state for the nation.

Then Miyuki heard her mother's jaw pop as she worked the muscles around it. A clear indication her mother was perturbed. Miyuki's own tension level shot up in response. She didn't have long to wait to learn why her mother was incensed.

"Yes…..I too am looking forward to cooperating in the future with your family as well Yotsuba-dono."

 _"…OBA-SAMA!"_

Beside her, her mother's eyes took on a feral glint that Miyuki usually associated with imminent doom.

 _"Cooperating in the future? Did Oba-sama give away my Onii-sama?"_

Miyuki was terrified instantly at that thought.

"Yes…of course, he is a thirteen year old boy after all. He'll be returning with his mother and sister to Japan."

Miyuki had to fight hard not to pass out in relief at these words.

"Yes Yotsuba-dono, it will be more along the lines of reserve officer training. It won't interfere with his school or home life."

 _"Thank the Gods!"_

Miyuki wanted to go to the nearest shrine and offer up her gratitude, but beside her there was no relief or joy at all. If the military officers couldn't feel her mother's mounting rage it wasn't for lack of its intensity.

"Yes…he will be reporting directly to Major Kazama Harunobu, an experienced ancient magic practitioner and a veteran of the Indochina Conflict. Oh….you know of him?"

The General and the Major exchanged surprised looks then. More surprised looks followed.

"General Kudou said that?...Well I am a little surprised, we have had differences of opinion in the past."

Then her eyes went even rounder.

"Yes…..no, the Major and I can meet with you at your convenience Yotsuba-dono, once we return to the Home Islands."

Miyuki couldn't help but slide slightly away from her mother now. Miya was calm and with a slight smile, but Miyuki knew it was her false mask being applied at full force. Under her skin, Miyuki knew her mother was a raging torrent of anger.

Miyuki too was also not happy. It was true she was ecstatic that the General's words indicated they could go home and with her precious Onii-sama, but it also indicated that Tatsuya would now be made available for use by the military.

 _"…..as a weapon."_

Again her mother's ominous words from earlier drifted across her thoughts.

"I wonder who else also got to watch his dramatic debut?"

"Yes Yotsuba-dono, I too am looking forward to it…yes, she's right here, would you like to…oh, alright then…..no, of course…you as well, till then…..goodbye."

After a moment to collect her thoughts after the surprise call from the Demon Woman of the East, the General took a few deep breaths and then smiled contently across the room towards Miya. The expression of pleasure was not returned. Only those cold eyes and a slight lip curl that to Miyuki indicated contempt were returned, which now didn't seem to faze the General in the least.

Whatever fear in the General's heart that the name Yotsuba Miya, the Mistress of Lethe, had generated only moments before the last call were gone now; as apparently was any control over the situation her mother had previously had. Control lost as a result of the words she couldn't hear spoken by her own twin sister.

The smile on Saeki's face was the same one she had when she first laid eyes on Tatsuya. She now had a new "toy" to play with and there was nothing that "toy's" mother could do about it.

"Shiba-san, we can evacuate your family back to the Home Islands immediately."

"That won't be necessary General, we came here on vacation and we plan to complete our stay as planned."

Kazama spoke up then.

"Shaba-san, the island is still a combat zone and even after that there will be massive cleanup and relief efforts, perhaps it would be….."

Miya delicately lifted her right palm towards the Major.

"Please forgive my rudeness Major. Captain Sanada….."

Sanada only seemed mildly surprised to be addressed.

"Um….yes, Shiba-san?"

"What is the condition of our rental villa and the surrounding infrastructure?"

When the Captain seemed confused Miya lightly pointed with her left index finger toward the data terminal in his hand. Miyuki couldn't help but notice any flirtation her mother had previously directed towards Sanada was absent now. She no longer was in the mood to play with these people.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Sanada did a quick search.

"The area was evacuated, but there was no damage to any property there and the enemy wasn't near it. As a relatively exclusive area it has its own power and water supplies which are all still active."

"Shiba-san…."

The Major continued.

"….even in those circumstances, I would still recommend you depart the island as soon as possible. Even once we overpower the remaining enemy forces the potential for looters in that particular area will be high since most people who were residing there will be leaving as soon as possible."

"I appreciate your concerns Major, but Mundane looters and any others will be in for a rude surprise if they target us. I also have no intention of burdening the civilian or military forces at this time when they are clearly needed elsewhere. We will wait to depart on our scheduled commercial flight in four days' time, which hopefully by then will see all those rushing to leave already gone."

Apparently feeling he had made some kind of personal connection with Miya that would allow him a better chance to convince her, newly minted Captain Sanada tried to convince her.

"Shiba-sama, the Major is right, your family…"

"Is guarded by Tatsuya, Captain."

Her harsh glare put an end to the conversation and any "warmth" Sanada might have previously felt from her.

"Very well Shiba-san. The Major will make arrangements for your family to be returned to the villa. However, even though there is no doubt that young Tatsuya-san is capable of protecting you well, the Prime Minister has directed we look out for your family while you are here. We will be posting sentries and patrols in your area for that purpose."

"Do as you like General but please do not divert forces from the relief efforts on our account. As you have said, Tatsuya is more than enough protection for us, not even counting our own abilities."

"Until the Major has made arrangements, please rest here and don't hesitate to ask the guards for assistance with anything."

Miya smirked mirthlessly to the Cheshire cat grin on the General's face.

"Does this conclude our discussion….General?"

"For today Shiba-san, but I may come pay you a visit before you depart, after your family has rested a bit. Since we will be working closely together in the future, we'll have some further business to discuss I'm sure."

The General had a very pleased look on her face as she stood up, followed by her subordinates. Miyuki stood as well, but as before Miya stayed seated.

"You of course are welcome to visit us General for tea, but we will not be discussing 'business' if you do. After all, my family is on vacation. If you ever need to discuss 'business' you can redial that last number on your phone, my imouto seems to be more than pleased to help you however she can."

Miya had said these words with all the ojou-sama decorum and grace she possessed, which was considerable. There was not a single thing about her words or demeanor that could cause reprimand or scrutiny. Yet no one in the room that heard them could have described her words as meaning anything other than "get out".

Kazama and Sanada both looked on with regretful expressions, but the General was too pleased with how things turned in her favor to do anything but smile and nod.

Then Kazama spoke up before the rest could leave the room.

"Shiba-san, about Sakurai-san's remains…"

"You have your own dead to deal with Major?"

Kazama looked somewhat disturbed to remember that fact.

"Indeed, but fewer than we would have if not for Tatsuya-san."

Miya looked disinterestedly away before replying.

"Tatsuya will oversee the disposal of her remains. Dispose of them as is most convenient and return the remains to my son, please."

"….Dispose?"

Miyuki knew when she barely whispered this, that suddenly all eyes in the room would fall on her with sympathetic looks. Miya cut her eyes at her daughter, but then softened them before speaking. She lightly ran her hand over her sad daughter's right forearm then.

"See our guests out Miyuki and then instruct Tatsuya to come see me alone."

Miyuki nodded and moved to open the door for the military officers that still looked at her with sad eyes.

Saeki and Kazama both nodded farewell to Miya, who pretended not to notice them. Sanada, the last to leave, bowed particularly low and spoke departing words to her.

"It was an honor to meet someone of your renown, Shiba-sama. I wish you and your family safe journeys."

Miya looked at him with softened eyes again, and nodded gently to him.

"You will watch out for my boy, while he is in your care, right Captain?"

Sanada stood up then, and with a solemn expression responded.

"You have my word Shiba-sama."

She smiled lightly at him then.

"Safe journeys young Sanada."

He nodded again lightly to her, and left the room.

Miyuki and her mother exchanged a brief glance. Something in that look resonated in Miyuki's heart. They both in that moment, seemed to share a similar fear of the future, of Tatsuya's future.

Miyuki followed the military officers out onto the deck and closed the door behind her.

* * *

"Ma'am, does this mean that the special project has been….."

These were the first words Miyuki heard as she stepped onto the deck.

"Yes, Major, we are a go for organization, acquisition, and deployment, fully funded."

Kazama, Sanada, and Saeki all shared excited smiles, but Miyuki couldn't help but feel even more worried. She didn't like the sound of "special project" and since it had obviously been a result of today's events, she was sure her Onii-sama would be dragged into it.

Seeing her sullen face looking up at them, the General cut the conversation short.

"We'll discuss the exact details later on."

Kazama looked down at Miyuki and gave her a knowing half smile, half frown.

"Captain, please have CAPTAIN Yanagi relieve Special Officer Shiba so that he can report to his mother."

Sanada saluted and proceeded to where Tatsuya and Yanagi stood vigil over Honami's corpse.

Miyuki's eyes natural drifted to where Tatsuya was.

 _"What did momma do you Onii-sama? What did Oba-sama commit you to?"_

He stood there over their precious Honami, looking down at her covered remains. All the rage and sadness she had felt from him before was now seemingly gone, but the look in his eyes told her that he was still in some form of pain.

 _"I will not let these people use you as a weapon Onii-sama; not mother, not Oba-sama, not the government or the military, I swear it."_

Then Miyuki felt the gazes of Saeki and Kazama on her.

She turned to look up at them.

"Young lady, I know I asked you before if you were as talented as your Onii-sama and you said no."

Miyuki was having a hard time putting on a believable false mask in this moment.

"But you did say you were talented. By chance is your talent similar to your mother's?"

Miyuki turned away as to not show scorn towards this question.

"Forgive my rudeness General, but I don't think I should answer that question. And may I say it is somewhat rude of you to ask me that."

Miyuki didn't mean to sound rude herself, but even to her ears her words seemed laced with irritation and contempt.

To her surprise this only made the two military officers smile even more towards her. Off to her left she could see that the Sergeant and Corporal, still guarding them, also had big smirks in reaction to her words. This only made Miyuki pout even more. Some rare times being so pretty and cute was a inconvenient, for her this was one of those irritating times.

"You're right, it is considered rude to ask a fellow magician about their abilities. My apologies dear. You are indeed your mother's child."

Miyuki spun around to the General then with no intention of hiding her frustration, though she still managed to speak calmly.

"I am nothing like our mother."

To her irritation, it seemed the General and Kazama were now biting their lips to suppress themselves from laughing. Behind her she could hear the two soldiers doing an even poorer job of suppressing their own amusement. The General and Kazama sent the two soldiers halfhearted looks to straighten themselves out, all the time fighting down their own amusement.

Miyuki thought she could feel her own blood beginning to boil inside her.

A few intentional coughs later and the four adults on the deck seemed to have mostly reigned in their laughter.

Only with the slightest of amused smirks still on her face, Saeki looked out ahead and replied.

"Nothing like her at all dear."

Miyuki was somewhat unjustifiably feeling mocked now, since she knew the General meant the opposite of what she was saying.

At that moment Tatsuya, with a perplexed look, stepped onto the deck with Sanada following him. He sent the agitated Miyuki a questioning look, but she only nodded lightly to him in reply.

Then Tatsuya snapped to attention and saluted the officers.

"General Saeki, Major Kazama, I was informed by Captain Sanada of your recent promotions. May I offer my congratulations ma'am, sir!"

With almost equal precision, the General and Major turned and returned his salute.

"Thank you, and may we return the congratulations?"

Tatsuya was surprised by this, so was Miyuki. She looked up at their backs with a concerned expression.

"By order of the Prime Minister, Special Officer Shiba Tatsuya is hereby promoted to the rank of Special Lieutenant effective immediately, with all the rights and privileges inherent to that rank."

The General then lowered her hand to extend it to Tatsuya, who lowered his own hand only slightly slower, to shake Saeki's hand.

"Thank you…General."

"Congratulations Tatsuya-san, well earned."

He then shook the Major's hand in turn.

"Thank you Major."

"Well earned indeed Shiba-san, well earned."

Next Sanada offered him his hand and Tatsuya thanked him as well.

"And welcome aboard."

Tatsuya was perplexed at Sanada's next words, Miyuki instead was mortified.

 _"He belongs with me!"_

She bit her tongue to keep from screaming these words.

"Aboard…Sir?"

It was Saeki that answered his question.

"We're putting together a special unit within the defense forces to handle situations like what happened today in a more effective and immediate manner. I hope we can count on your cooperation as a reserve member of this unit, at least until you come of age to become a full-fledged member?"

Tatsuya's eyes went wide. Before this damnable vacation Miyuki had never seen him have a similar expression on his face.

 _"He's…..EXCITED?"_

Just as when Kazama and Sanada had let him participate in the Onna Airborne's training activities days before, again he showed genuine interest in being part of the military.

 _"But you belong with ME!"_

Miyuki was terrified. She could feel her Onii-sama slipping away from her.

 _"YOU belong to ME!"_

It was all she could do to try to control herself in this moment. Finally noticing his sister's discomfort, Tatsuya's excitement instantly dissipated. He turned a serious expression to the General then.

"I would be honored to participate General, however I have previous obligations to my family and school. I am also too young to directly participate, my apologies."

Miyuki was pleased to hear these words, but she could sense the real disappoint her brother felt for having to refuse.

 _"….oh Onii-sama!"_

Despite her own extreme desires to keep him with her always, she couldn't help being ashamed that her joy came at the expense of her Onii-sama. She felt shame in her heart for desiring to hamper him.

"That's alright Special Lieutenant, the preliminary arrangements have already been agreed upon."

Tatsuya's disappointment was washed away and he looked at the General with a questioning and doubtful expression.

"….mother has agreed to this arrangement?"

He asked the General, but the question was meant for Miyuki. To emphasize the point, he looked at Miyuki then. She could only look down and avoid his gaze with disappointment.

"The arrangements are being finalized with your aunt."

Now Tatsuya looked back at the General with eyes bulging in curiosity. Those eyes quickly fell to Miyuki again for answers.

"…our aunt, ma'am?"

When Miyuki locked sad eyes with him, and then gave him a disappointed slight head nod of affirmation; Tatsuya's neck pulled his surprised face slightly back before refocusing on the General.

"Yes Special Lieutenant….THAT aunt."

Miyuki could see the surprised revelation spread across her beloved Onii-sama's face. He knew now that at least General Saeki knew their real identities. He had to be as surprised as Miyuki was that Oba-sama had agreed to allow the military access to him as well. Yet again to her disappointment he seemed enthusiastic about it all.

"I see ma'am….but it will not interfere with my previous obligations?"

He sent the obviously unhappy Miyuki another concerned look.

"No matter the fine details we agree upon with your aunt, we have no intention of interfering in your education or living arrangements. You will mostly be undergoing training under Major Kazama's supervision on weekends and holidays."

When Tatsuya looked to the Major they exchanged pleased nods.

"Very well ma'am, then I am looking forward to it."

He was clearly looking forward to it, much to Miyuki's intense concern and disappointment.

"As are we Special Lieutenant. Until then you are relieved of active duty and may return to civilian life. The Major will contact you with further details after the arrangements with you family have been finalized."

Then everyone present saluted Tatsuya.

"Again Special Lieutenant, our extreme gratitude for the services you have rendered for the nation here today! Our victory, though certain, would have been more costly without your invaluable contributions!"

Tatsuya straightened and with great dignity, returned their salute.

Despite her great apprehensions for what this new future held for them both, Miyuki was still very moved to see so many other people give her Onii-sama the recognition and praise she felt he truly deserved. She joined them in their praise and bowed deeply before him. Seeing this, his cheeks pinked in embarrassment, but she knew in this moment he could not stop her from honoring him properly, and she smiled with satisfaction.

Once arms were lowered again, Sanada spoke to him

"Um Tatsuya-san, I don't suppose you would mind cleaning this little mess up for us, would you?"

Tatsuya followed Sanada's eyes toward the debris field of formerly working military equipment that he had rendered into junk a little while before. A slight tinge of embarrassment streaked his features then.

"Yes, of course, my apologies."

"No need young man!"

Saeki brimmed with enthusiasm.

"I would be honored to see one of your amazing abilities in person."

Tatsuya blushed a bit more at her enthusiasm. Miyuki was using her eyes to shoot daggers into the General's back. Her excitement was board-line school-girlish in Miyuki's very biased opinion.

 _"A general…really?"_

Miyuki didn't recognize her own jealousy yet when other females showed too much interest in HER Onii-sama. Yet a few moments later she instantly forgot her irritation and joined everyone in their astonishment.

Tatsuya extended his left hand toward the debris, and seconds later the "light" of dancing psions spread from his mind in a fan like shape. Then all the millions of pieces of trucks, tanks, guns, and missiles began to glow with a static like appearance. Next they moved into more congregated shapes and began to take on familiar appearances. Then the static disappeared and the weapons and vehicles lay on the ground, but in the whole pieces they had been before.

"Hot damn!"

"Son….of…a….bitch!"

These were the Sergeant and Corporal's honest opinions on what they had just witnessed. Yanagi and the other two combat magicians on the other side of the restored equipment also looked on in dumbfounded amazement.

The other military officers on the deck looked on in a state of euphoria.

Miyuki recognized this magic. It was Regrowth. She had seen it for the first time when her Onii-sama had used it on her just hours before. It was the magic that had restored her life and made her one with Onii-sama. She was suddenly very envious of the military equipment he had just restored.

"Onii-sama is the greatest magician in the world!"

Her new and unbridled passion for all things Onii-sama had backfired on her yet again.

She didn't mind Tatsuya looking away in embarrassment at her effusive praise, she thought his reaction to her words was very sweet and cute.

It was the dumbfounded Saeki's reaction to her words that made her wish she had had no tongue in her mouth to speak with.

The General looked out on the restored equipment blinking in disbelief, her mouth hanging low and loose so any insect or small bird could make a home in it. Yet Miyuki's words finally broke her stupor.

"Young lady….."

Miyuki felt instant dread as she spoke to her.

 _"When will I learn to shut my stupid mouth?"_

Saeki turned that amazed look onto Miyuki's slightly embarrassed Onii-sama, who had yet to fully lower his left hand.

"…..I think you are indeed right. He is quite possibly the greatest magician in world."

Tatsuya blushed more profusely under the General's praise, and Miyuki looked at her with intense distrust. Slowly a very happy and satisfied smile crept up the General's facial features.

 _"….a new 'toy' to play with."_

Miyuki hated that expression.

 _"….a new 'weapon' to exploit."_

She wished she had the Mental Interference magic capable of removing today from everyone's memories.

 _"…..my poor Onii-sama."_

Miyuki renewed her earnest prayer.

 _"Please make this horrible day end!"_

Once they had recovered their wits, the officers thanked Tatsuya again and praised him more profusely than before. This time Miyuki got no satisfaction from their praises. Then the General, along with Kazama and Sanada, said their goodbyes to Tatsuya and returned to the base proper in the vehicle they had come to the guardhouse in.

Miyuki was extremely relieved to see them leave.

Lost in her brooding thoughts, she jumped slightly when Tatsuya came into her field of vision.

"Are you alright Miyuki, you seemed disturbed?"

His eyes radiated concern for her. She looked into those eyes and her mind began to drift.

 _"So…..beautiful."_

She didn't register when he furrowed his brow at her as his concern multiplied with her lack of response.

"….Miyuki?"

She inhaled deeply when she realized she was lost in her admiring thoughts and had failed to acknowledge his words.

"Oh….sorry Onii-sama. I'm…"

She could feel her face heating up under his gaze.

 _"Did he see that?"_

She was embarrassed and hoped he hadn't noticed how "warm" her stupefied staring at him had been.

Then she felt him wrap his arms around her and an involuntary sigh of relief escaped her lips. His left hand, the hand that gave her back her life, gently stroked her head; and she melted her face into his chest.

 _"He so…good….at knowing what I need."_

Then he whispered gently to her left ear.

"No matter what, you will always be first. You are my priority now and forever Miyuki."

She pulled herself tighter into him.

 _"And he always knows what I want to hear."_

All the tension drained away from her. As she rested in his arms her thoughts stayed on him.

"You are Miyuki's number one priority now too Onii-sama."

She reluctantly pulled back to look him in the eyes, so that he could see her determination.

"Miyuki won't let anyone use her Onii-sama!"

His eyes widened at her emphatic proclamation.

"This your Miyuki swears Onii-sama! She will protect you always!"

His eyes softened as he looked down at her, and a smile spread across his face and his left hand again stoked her hair gently.

"Then Miyuki's Onii-sama can rest easy, knowing he will always be in her care."

 _"He's so good at using the right words."_

She happily buried her head into his chest again, and they held each other for several more ecstatic moments.

Then Miyuki reluctantly remembered she had instructions for him.

"Onii-sama, mother wishes to speak to you inside…..alone."

She didn't want him to go alone, since she couldn't forget what she had seen when their mother and Tatsuya had been alone before. Yet she was determined not to burden her Onii-sama further on what had already been an extreme day for him. She tried to cover her concern when she spoke her last word by making it sound more like pouting.

"I will not be long then."

Apparently it had worked, since he looked at her with an indulgent smile. Then his eyes looked out around them and worry streaked his face. With those same concerned eyes he looked down into her face again.

"You will stay here on the deck for me?"

Miyuki felt a twinge of shame, remembering her earlier actions that had endangered her and worse, forced her tired Onii-sama to work harder and expose himself further.

"…..your Miyuki will not cause her Onii-sama any further trouble, she promises."

She looked down with a pout and embarrassment, but another head stroke from him returned her smile.

"You could never trouble me Miyuki. I will return shortly."

He then turned and opened the door into the guardhouse, but not before exchanging a knowing nod with the Sergeant and Corporal. Miyuki couldn't help but feel like Tatsuya was making sure the soldiers intended to keep an eye on her.

She also felt something more disturbing from that look.

 _"It's like he's already one of them…"_

As the door closed behind him Miyuki turned away with the slightest concerned expressions. Then she saw the two soldiers grinning at her as if they knew what she was thinking. She awkwardly smiled at them then turned to look at the horizon.

 _"I must have been 'too cute' again."_

She rested her forearms on the deck railing and placed her chin on them as she stared at the sky beyond. She hadn't realized so much time had passed. The western horizon was turning orange and the eastern horizon showed the first signs of purple, approaching night.

 _"The stars will be out in a while."_

The billowing black smoke clouds that had stained the otherwise pristine azure sky earlier where still there, but the smoke had lessened and thinned out from earlier.

Through the thinning smoke clouds she saw four tiny dots moving fast from east to west across the far southern horizon, reminding her that she had almost used magic against the defending aircraft earlier. Then from the base behind her she saw and heard four VTOL craft hover up from the ground and then speed away to the south as they swept around to her left.

 _"So many killed, and for what?"_

After she followed the VTOL crafts' path with her eyes as they moved off to the south, her eyes were drawn back to the vehicles and weapons surrounding the base gate.

 _"What did those people think they could achieve by attacking this place?"_

There she saw the two combat suited magicians guarding the gate, and Captain Yanagi dutifully standing watch over Honami-chan.

 _"What could be worth killing and dying for on this island? Killing her for?"_

Miyuki looked away quickly to stop herself from crying again. Then she remembered her mother's words from their meeting with the General.

"Psions are, in simplistic terms, 'life' particles. Even non-magicians possess psions, just not enough to use magic. Tatsuya cannot create psions, and so when a magician uses up all their psions, then their life force will naturally dissipate. Restoring the physical body will have no effect on this."

Miyuki fought not to frown at these remembered words.

 _"But Honami-chan was so…..STRONG!"_

Miyuki couldn't fathom how such a young and vibrant woman, with such seemingly unlimited reserves of magic, could simply…run out of…life.

She had seen the incredible force that the enemy rail-gun projectiles had hit her shield with, but in her mind Honami was a titan compared to some simple non-magic weapon system.

She felt vulnerable suddenly, realizing now that if someone as powerful as Honami could be drained of her magic by "regular" weapons, that maybe her faith in magic power wasn't as realistic as it once had felt.

But then she remembered Onii-sama, and his incredible power.

 _"He's a fountain of psions…he would never run out."_

She comforted herself with these thoughts. She clung to the knowledge of his incredible powers as if it were a lifeline for her in a raging storm of doubts.

True to his word, her Onii-sama returned to her side in short order. When he emerged from the door, Miyuki moved quickly to greet him.

Then she could see in his eyes a slight discomfort.

"Onii-sama….what….."

He smiled halfheartedly at her then.

"Honami is to be cremated, I will supervise the process and return with her remains."

Sudden tears fought Miyuki to free themselves from her eyes.

"Then…Miyuki will stand by her Onii-sama's side!"

Tatsuya smiled sadly at her then as he gently stroked her head.

"No Miyuki."

"But Onii-sama needs…"

"It's mother's orders. You will remain here with her as I take care of Honami."

Miyuki was ready to fight. Both to honor Honami and to support Tatsuya in what she knew would be a difficult task for him.

"I will not abandon…."

"Please Miyuki, I….I don't want you…..for you to see…."

He was struggling to find the words to convince her. She knew he didn't want her to see Honami's body burned. He wanted to protect her, to keep her still somewhat innocent. He wanted to preserve what little childhood his imouto had left to her after the events of this terrible day.

 _"I must not burden Onii-sama further."_

She calmed herself and straightened herself with dignity.

"Miyuki understands. So long as Onii-sama is sure he does not need his Miyuki for this….."

Tatsuya, not wishing to disappoint Miyuki either, reluctantly nodded to this question.

"Then his Miyuki will wait patiently for his return with their mother."

She fought to keep the disappointment from her features and to find her false mask in this moment.

Tatsuya looked down on her with concern, then his eyes traveled back to the vehicle with Honami's body on it.

"Are you sure you do you wish to view her one last time?"

Miyuki followed his eyes to the vehicle. She lay her head into him as she thought. After a few long seconds, she shook her head from side to side.

"No, I wish to remember her the way she was, not how she is now."

Her brother's hand again stroked her head to comfort her.

"Then I should get moving."

She separated from him reluctantly then; but as he went down the deck ramp, she moved to rush to him, then suddenly stopped her movements with a pensive look on her face.

"What is it Miyuki?"

She looked up at his question, then looked at the soldiers back on the deck behind her before looking back to him.

"It's nothing, it's just…Miyuki doesn't want her Onii-sama to think she…..is…..silly."

Seeing her discomfort, Tatsuya returned to her with a wry smile on his face.

"I could never think Miyuki was silly."

These words made her smile with a slight blush.

"Tell me what it is."

She leaned into him and whispered to his ear. When they moved apart again, he bowed to her.

"It will be as you have asked."

When they locked eyes again they shared bittersweet smiles.

"Now please go in to mother, she has had a stressful day. I will take care of Honami now."

She bowed to him then.

"It will be as you have asked, Onii-sama."

He then left the ramp and proceeded to the vehicle. After a few words with Captain Yanagi, he boarded the vehicle from behind in his original position, holding Honami's body in place on the back. Yanagi took the driver's seat and the vehicle proceeded past the guardhouse and into the main base.

Miyuki and Tatsuya exchanged glances as the vehicle passed her. As she watched she saw that Tatsuya's hand was under the blanket again, holding Honami in place.

She never took her eyes off the vehicle as she saw it disappear beyond the buildings.

 _"I will never forget you Honami-chan. The love you gave us and the things you taught us."_

She reluctantly turned to proceed inside once the vehicle was out of sight.

 _"Thank you for giving me my Onii-sama back."_

She stopped one last time to look back towards where the vehicle had been moments before.

 _"Rest easy, I will watch over Onii-sama from now on, as you would have wanted. This I promise to you my dear friend."_

* * *

Miyuki tapped on the door to the guardhouse and spoke within.

"It's Miyuki mother, may I enter?"

After a few seconds, her mother's voice called to her.

"Come in."

Miyuki walked into the room and closed the door behind her. She could tell instantly something was wrong. Then she noticed the communication device her mother brought up to her ear.

"I'm back Hayama-san….no, they are both fine…no, as I have already said we will not be returning early."

Hayama was the Yotsuba's chief butler and her aunt's most trusted servant. Miyuki's tension shot up instantly.

Miya indicated with her eyes for Miyuki to sit down. She chose to sit on the couch opposite her mother.

"I realize it would be easy for you to send a plane to retrieve us Hayama, please don't be obtuse, I'm in no mood for it….yes, I am determined, we WILL complete our vacation….then imouto should be careful what she asks for."

It wasn't like her mother to refer to the head of the family as "little sister", but she had done it at least once before today. It was a sign of extreme frustration and irritation for Miya. It was no secret that the twins avoided each other as much as possible.

"No Hayama-san, I do not want you to send another guardian, certainly not now and not afterwards either, we have all already discussed this."

Miyuki was slightly surprised by this. She had allowed herself to forget over the years that Honami was a servant. The sudden prospect of someone new trying to replace her seemed…..offensive.

"Well I think clearly Tatsuya has demonstrated he's more than capable of looking out for both of us."

Miyuki's mood improved to hear their mother deliver something close to praise for Onii-sama.

"Yes, I am certain…of course. Yes…..no that's fine."

Miyuki allowed herself to relax, but she soon learned that was a mistake.

"Now hand the phone to imouto Hayama-san, I know she's listening."

There was no friendliness in her mother's voice, only a cold tone accompanied her words. Her mother was quiet for some time as she listened to Hayama's response, then to Miyuki's shock her mother rolled her eyes at something she heard.

"Well you can tell my little sister if she has time to sell my son to the Self Defense Forces without even consulting me first; then she will either talk to me by phone very soon or I will be making a personal visit to the main residence to hear her apologies and excuses. She can then explain to my face why the Yotsuba family name carries so little weight under her leadership that the family that once destroyed a nation now has to cower before a few messily politicians and generals."

Now Miyuki was truly terrified. The thought of these two "heavy-weight" magicians standing face to face was disturbing to say the least. The Demon Woman of the East versus the Mistress of Lethe, "Meteor Stream" versus "Gate", such a battle would come down to invocation speed. Miyuki hoped this brewing conflict could be avoided at all costs, save hurting her Onii-sama of course.

Then, after listening to Hayama for a few moments more Miya sighed heavily.

"I am aware of that Hayama-san….no, I don't care. You can tell imouto I expect to hear from her soon. If she makes me come up there it will not be pleasant for any of us, I can assure you of that…..yes, no we are fine I assure you…..please see that you do…..yes, I will if I need anything…yes….goodbye."

For their mother, anger was a tool, not an emotion. She used anger to correct, not project. She rarely raised her voice and always was in control. Miya's anger was a scalpel for corrective "procedures", not a hammer to smash with.

It was the first time Miyuki had ever seen her mother pick up the "hammer of anger". She was glad to see her "put it down" without having "swung" it.

After a few long moments to center herself, Miya directed her eyes at Miyuki.

 _"That same cold, dead look from before."_

Miyuki felt an unusual emotion for her come to the surface. For the first time under that familiar glare she didn't feel fear or intimidation, but anger.

 _"I know who you really are now mother. Your false mask is transparent to me."_

Miyuki must have been failing to deploy her own false mask. Miya's eyebrows rose in curiosity at her daughter's returned glare. Once Miyuki realized it, it was too late to correct herself.

"Are you that angry at me daughter?"

Miyuki blinked in surprise at Miya's words and turned away from her. Miya only sighed at this reaction.

"Well, I suppose that's to be expected."

A twinge of sadness in Miya's words brought Miyuki's eyes back with slight curiosity.

After several long moments Miyuki replied.

"I'm…..not angry at you mother."

It was Miya's turn to look at Miyuki with curiosity.

"Oh, really? Why not?"

Miyuki was dumbfounded by this unexpected question.

Miyuki pondered this with a perplexed and searching expression. When she finally spoke she was not confident with her words.

"I suppose…..I don't feel I have a right to be angry at my mother."

"Oh….I see."

Miya looked away then as if searching the wall above Miyuki for something.

"I guess that makes us oddities in this world."

For several moments Miyuki couldn't fathom her mother's words. Seeing her daughter was having a hard time, Miya threw her a verbal lifeline.

"Most children your age think they know everything and are constantly angry at their parents for disagreeing with that assumption. You and I are not like the rest apparently."

Miyuki nodded to this, but Miya kept speaking.

"I desperately wish I had argued more with my own parents. It would have been good practice for when I'd really need such a skill later on."

This statement peaked Miyuki's interest. Her mother rarely spoke of her parents.

Miya's eyes returned to Miyuki with slight melancholy showing through.

"Do you know what I was doing when I was your age Miyuki?"

Miyuki felt a pit of guilt and trepidation well up in her stomach. After a few moments of silence she spoke only one word in a near whisper.

"…..Taipei."

She didn't want to meet her mother's eyes. THAT event thirty years before in THAT city had resulted in the deaths of half the Yotsuba family including her mother's own father; and had ended whatever love her mother had once shared with her twin sister. Taipei was a forbidden word in the Yotsuba family, even speaking it could bring immediate censure.

But Miya only sighed sadly as she repeated it.

"…Taipei."

Her mother's expression turned sad yet wistful as she once again looked at her daughter.

"After mother passed away with the baby, the sadness in the main residence was so thick you could cut it with a knife."

Honami had taught Miyuki about her family history. There wasn't much on her grandmother, the former Abe Yasuyo. She knew that her grandmother wasn't a Mental Interference magician like her and Miya. That talent was inherited from her grandfather instead.

The pictures and videos available of her showed a very beautiful woman who seemed happy and loving towards her family. Miyuki knew that after her mother and aunt were born, a second pregnancy had occurred; but complications occurred halfway through and after delivering a premature stillborn boy, her grandmother died from internal hemorrhaging. Her mother and aunt had been less than half Miyuki's age when this happened.

Looking at the pictures and videos, Honami had said that of everyone in the family, Miyuki favored her grandmother Yasuyo the most. Miyuki also agreed with this assessment. She was the only person in the Yotsuba Miyuki even slightly favored.

"She's more like a myth now to me than a real person. Like a fairy tale I really liked and so I would fantasize I was a character in the story. It was better than the subsequent 'real life' I lived after she departed. I have to watch videos of her to remember her face and her voice now, but I can still remember the smell of her favorite perfume, and how her arms felt as she held me in them."

Miya's expression didn't change, but Miyuki could see the pain in her eyes.

"Father loved your aunt and me intently, but after mother died something inside him died with her. His will to experience 'life' was gone. He focused on strengthening the family and Ten Master Clans politics. He was still a good father and still involved, but any happiness he felt after that was happiness he would feel for Maya and me, not his 'actual' personal happiness. He only seemed to live on for our sake, not his own. We could 'feel' his sadness, even when he smiled and played with us."

Miya looked at Miyuki seriously then.

"Does that make sense to you Miyuki?"

Miyuki nodded earnestly.

"Yes momma, I understand."

Miya smiled sadly at her.

"You are a very intelligent girl Miyuki. I didn't even understand these things until I had my own children."

Miyuki did understand it though, because it felt dangerously close to her own life and experiences. The daughter was very much like her father had been. Miyuki always had the sad feeling that Miya was constantly slipping away from the world she lived in.

Again Miya looked at the far wall as if she could see through it.

"Father worked so hard for all of us, so your aunt and I took it easy on him. Even as little girls we felt we had to look out for father, at least domestically. We knew how sad we all were. We never fussed or fought in front of him. We settled things between us alone. We drew so close to each other, because we had replaced mother for one another. Eventually our lives reached a sense of 'normalcy' it hadn't had since mother died."

Miya looked again to her daughter.

"Father came to us one day and told us we'd be spending the summer in Nara; that the great Kudou Retsu had agreed to take us on as apprentices. We were both very excited. Not only had we rarely ever left the mountains, but we'd be learning from one of the greatest magicians in the world. We were still not savvy enough in the ways of this world to realize the politics behind our journey."

She smiled wryly at her daughter.

"Father, through Kudou-sensei, had made an arrangement with the previous head of the Saegusa family."

Miyuki tensed slightly. She was somewhat isolated from the politics of Japan's magic community, but she knew that the current head of the Saegusa was considered to be an opponent of the Yotsuba. This was particularly bad because Miyuki also knew that the Saegusa were considered to be one of the top two magic families in the nation. The other family of course was the Yotsuba; but where the Yotsuba were reclusive and feared, the Saegusa were famous and universally praised. In Miyuki's young mind, the rest of the world saw the Saegusa as the "good guys" and the Yotsuba…..well, not the "good guys".

"We'd both be training with Sensei alongside the young future head of the Saegusa clan, Koichi. The idea was that Koichi would get to decide which of us he liked better, and then in a few years that sister would marry Koichi and become the future matron of the Saegusa family while her twin sister would become the next head of the Yotsuba."

Miya smirked a little then.

"Kudou-sensei had come up with the plan as a way to heal what then were just some hurt feelings between the two houses; and also to tie the two powerful houses to his own family. To 'sweeten' the deal Sensei would offer the remaining sister her choice of his available younger sons or grandsons. Thus would be sealed a three family ruling coalition pact within the Ten Master Clans. Kudou, Saegusa, and Yotsuba; sealed by marriage and eventually shared bloodlines."

An amused expression crossed Miya's face then.

"Sensei had no idea that father had already picked out the other daughter's husband years before."

Miyuki furrowed her brows at this statement. Since only one sister, after Taipei, HAD to get married, did her mother mean that her father Tatsurou was already selected to be a husband for one of the Yotsuba sisters even back then?

Miya didn't wait for Miyuki to ponder these thoughts.

"Your aunt made his choice easy for him. The moment she saw Koichi she was in love. The moment I spoke with him, I knew I would not get in her way."

Miya smiled with something close to irritation showing in her eyes.

"Koichi this! Koichi that! Everything Koichi did astounded her. It was a long summer for me, listening to your aunt tell me how amazing Saegusa Koichi was, every, single, night."

Miyuki was captivated by her mother's suddenly expressive features. She never shared such things from her past with Miyuki. For that moment Miyuki could finally imagine her mother as a girl, irritated with her sister constantly talking about her new boyfriend.

Then the seriousness and sadness returned to her mother's face.

"I killed your aunt twice."

"Wha…..what?"

Miyuki was stunned by these words, but Miya didn't repeat them.

"She was the happiest of us. She was the one that forced me out of my own depression after mother died. She was the only one that could make father laugh. I was his child, serious, a studious child, and a brooder. Maya was mother's child, happy, laughing, making other people smile. When I was sick she was the one to make me feel better. When I was quiet she would force me to talk. She was a beautiful and wonderful little girl, and she would have eventually been the perfect wife and mother, especially for someone like Koichi."

This sounded nothing like the Yotsuba Maya Miyuki knew. Maya was a name to be feared. Someone that could crush countries with a nod of her beautiful head of hair.

"And I killed that wonderful little girl twice."

"But momma…..that doesn't make any sense. Oba-sama is not dead."

Miya looked at her daughter sadly then.

"Oh, so you think that THING you call Oba-sama is my sister?"

Miyuki pulled back at this statement, but Miya kept speaking.

"No, that THING is what was left behind after the second time I killed my sister. My own personal Frankenstein Monster. You could even call it my first child. The THING inhabiting my sister's body is nothing like my real sister, and I have only myself to blame for that."

Miyuki didn't know what to say, luckily her mother didn't require her to reply.

"I was the one who was supposed to go to Taipei."

Miyuki wasn't sure she had heard right.

"…..mother?"

"Your aunt was naive and frivolous, she was more interested in fashion than magic study. I was the bookworm. I was the one that would have got something out of going to a magic youth conference, and so I was the one who was initially signed up for it."

"Momma…you…"

"Yes Miyuki, I was the one scheduled to go to Taipei, not Maya."

Into the silence Miyuki's disbelief was creating, Miya spoke again.

"That's why I said I killed your aunt twice. This would be the first time I killed her. I was supposed to go, but the engagement of your aunt and Saegusa Koichi had become big news; and so when it was decided by Seagusa-dono that his son Koichi would go to the Magic Association Asian Youth Conference in Taipei, father asked if I would give up my place for Maya. He said it would be good press for everybody to have Maya and Koichi seen side by side in public. Good publicity. A very public 'win' for Japan's magic community."

Miya frowned intently.

"For the actual point of the conference itself Maya would be useless and get nothing out of it but a free vacation. I wanted to go, I was excited about it, but…"

A long pause ensued as Miya seemed to be searching for the right words. She closed her eyes hard as she continued.

"….I had never learned to argue with my parents. I had never learned to tell my father no because I didn't want him to feel more pain. We never wanted to disappoint him, for mother's memory if not his own depression."

Miyuki was stunned, a single tear fell from her mother's left eye. She wiped it away as if it was nothing.

"Father said it was best for the family and that was that. I suppressed my own desires, bit my tongue, and meekly agreed to his request. Maya went instead and you know what happened after that."

Miyuki knew well enough what happened after that. Her aunt was kidnapped, raped, violated, and experimented on. Once she was rescued the Yotsuba family went on a rampage of revenge with the final result being the deaths of half the family including her grandfather. The Yotsuba, by destroying Maya's violators, had subsequently left the entire nation of Dahan with no magic power. Within the next year they had been reconquered by the Great Asian Alliance.

 _"…..The family that destroyed a nation."_

That was the fearsome reputation of the Yotsuba family. Her family. Her Onii-sama's family.

"Just giving up my place for Maya isn't the reason I claim to have killed your aunt though."

Miyuki's eyes focused intently on her mother again.

"I was the target of the kidnappers, not Maya."


	5. Chapter 5: Pain

Miyuki was stunned to her core. She had never heard that her mother was supposed to be the one at Taipei before this day. She certainly didn't know she was the Kunlunfang Institute's intended kidnapping target.

"Switching us was a last second decision, there was no time to change the paperwork. Even the name-tag she wore still had my name on it. The kidnappers had a picture of the target and they found a girl with the right face, my face."

"Momma…but, but that doesn't…"

"Yes it does Miyuki. Admittedly your aunt was quite the consolation. She has Yotsuba genetics and since they took her ovaries they clearly thought that still had value. But even though your aunt is one of the most feared magicians in the world, there's nothing particularly unique about her powers except their intensity. There are similar magicians in this world with similar talents that would be much less riskier targets than a Yotsuba, even back then."

Miyuki wanted to refute her mother's words, but the logic was sound. Maya had been a girl then too, so no one really knew how strong her magic would eventually become. What was known then was she was a Yotsuba, who even before the collapse of Dahan, was a family with a fearsome reputation.

"They wanted a magic that was unique, rare, powerful, and very hard to come by. A power that I was only rumored to have then, but the rumor was tempting enough. A power worth angering their only real ally for. A power worth risking their entire nation's future on. A power that we share, and that we hide as much as we can with an unending vigilance."

Her mother's word struck home with the terrified girl across the room from her.

"...Mental Interference magic."

"Yes Miyuki, our unique gift and fearsome burden. The power to control and alter the human mind."

Miya shook her head lightly.

"Now do you understand why I admonish you constantly to hide your true power? Anonymity is our greatest asset. An enemy doesn't hunt for a target they know nothing of."

A shudder ran up Miyuki's back as fear trickled into her consciousness.

"Like Dahan and the Kunlunfang Institute, there are other's out there looking to exploit magicians as weapons. Tools for their desires and conquests. You and I would be the ultimate prizes. The rumor of my ability alone was enough to destroy your aunt's life. That's why I've worked so hard to hide us. To be 'dead' to this world. Shiba Miya is a no one; a frail, and cuckold housewife with 'limited' magic. The Mistress of Lethe is dead, or hidden away somewhere. She's not a target anymore…."

Miya took a deep breath then.

"…until today. Until her son showed a significant portion of the government and military exactly what he could do. Then Yotsuba Miya had to be resurrected to protect her son from the vultures that would use him."

Then she turned sad eyes to Miyuki.

"If they knew what YOU could do….they would stop at nothing to acquire you. That's why someone with Tatsuya's extreme abilities is YOUR guardian. You are the real prize Miyuki. You are what must be protected."

Miyuki started trembling at these words.

"I hope your Onii-sama is 'shinny and bright' enough to distract them from us. I hope the family reputation still means something in this nation. I hope the Self Defense Forces have enough competence to not out us to others."

Miya looked disappointed as she continued.

"There was surety in anonymity, but because of today we now must rely on 'hope'."

She looked down in frustration.

"We have something much better than hope mother."

Miya's eyes fluttered up to her daughter then.

"We have Onii-sama."

All her fears melted away. All her concerns were gone instantly. Her faith in Tatsuya, that he would always be there to protect them, was all encompassing. The ultimate in security to Miyuki's youthful mind.

"Tatsuya is not a God Miyuki, no matter how all-powerful his magic seems. He is very much a flawed creation. He is mortal, and he is fallible. You do him no good by worshiping him. In fact you can do him great harm."

Miyuki stumbled for words to match her mother's intensity. She failed to find them.

"I….I…I don't think…..Onii-sama is….a God."

It sounded hollow to her ears. Her mother must have had the same impression.

"I want you to listen to me well Miyuki and never forget these words that I am about to say to you. Whenever you experience the euphoria that accompanies witnessing Tatsuya deploying his abilities, I want you to repeat this phrase."

Her mother's emphatic statement was applying real pressure on Miyuki's consciousness.

"The worst thing you call tell a God, is that he is a God."

Silence hung then in the air between them, then Miya said it again.

"The worst thing you call tell a God, is that he is a God. Repeat it back to me Miyuki."

Miyuki recoiled slightly, but meekly obeyed.

"The worst thing you call tell a God, is that he is a God."

"Yes, again."

"The worst thing you call tell a God, is that he is a God."

"I don't expect you to comprehend the meaning of this statement yet, but you must never forget these words Miyuki. I have lived my life by these words for thirteen years. These words protect your Onii-sama. These words keep him from desolation and destruction."

Miya was on the verge of raising her voice. Miyuki was stunned by how much feeling Miya put into these words.

"If you truly love your Onii-sama, you will never forget these words."

"Yes mother, I promise."

Silence reigned again, then mustering some courage Miyuki spoke up.

"When you say you killed aunt twice, the second time was…..when you used your magic on her?"

Miya nodded solemnly before speaking.

"Yes, I wasn't skilled enough with my powers at that age. I didn't know enough about them either. And because father and I both felt guilty, for the second time I demurred to his wishes and for the second time I killed my sister."

She looked off to the far horizon she couldn't possibly see again.

"If I had stood up for myself that first time it would have been me at Taipei and not her. Then no matter what happened to me there, at least Maya would have lived the life of a normal woman. Well, as normal as a Yotsuba can be anyway."

"But momma, had it been you….."

Miya stopped her with an unexpected smile.

"We don't know what would have happened. They would have obviously tried to kidnap me; but I was a much more serious girl than Maya, and it's highly likely my serious nature would have made me less prone to the attempt in the first place. Bottom line is we simply don't know, we never will."

She looked downward at the floor as she continued.

"Father and I bear the full responsibility for what happened to Maya at Taipei."

"Momma, you can't…..it's not fair too…"

"Father for sending her when she wasn't prepared, and me for giving up my rightful place with no resistance."

Then she closed her eyes again.

"And we both felt the intensity of our guilt."

She clinched her jaw.

"And our guilt led us to an even greater mistake."

She sighed heavily as she opened her eyes again.

"Father and I were desperate to 'fix' her, to atone for our mistakes. So he asked me to take her pain away, and I did. We weren't willing to put in the hard work that would have been Maya's long term recovery. And it is true that she may never have recovered from her trauma, but we didn't even give her that chance. We wanted to sate our mutual guilt, and so even though I wasn't skilled enough, I took all your aunt's emotions for the first twelve years of her life and reset her emotionally back to year one."

Sad eyes bore into Miyuki then.

"The THING I created woke up and the first thing she told me was I had killed her, and she was right. Everything happy and wondrous about my imouto was gone, replaced by an emotionless automaton in her defiled body."

Miya sighed heavily in between her words.

"And then even worse, she began to redevelop her lost emotions. Rage, anger, resentment, all the worst emotions possible. Just as a baby shouldn't remember its birth on purpose, so your aunt shouldn't have been allowed to keep her memories without the attached emotions. The results are the Maya we know today. Someone who can completely detach herself from any emotion save vengeance."

Again sad eyes bore into Miyuki's heart.

"My mistake, my fault, my creation, my sin; because I couldn't stand up for myself, and because I couldn't stand up for my imouto."

Another heavy sigh followed.

"Father couldn't live with the guilt and the shame. He wrapped it in words like vengeance and justice, but at his core he was ashamed of himself. He had failed to protect his little girl, and he couldn't live with it. So he gave Maya the only thing he felt he had left to give her, revenge. Half your cousins lost one or both of their parents for Maya's revenge. Kunlunfang and Dahan paid for their crimes, but the cost was so very high. Thirty aunts, uncles, and cousins; people I knew, respected, and loved, all dead, all gone forever. They'd just walk out the door one day and never come back. Not a single one ever refused."

A few more tears suddenly escape her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe these away.

"And then, it was finally his turn. The night before, he came to my room while he thought I was asleep. He stood in my doorway and just stared at me for hours. I had my back to the door, so all I could see was the shadow the hallway light made of his silhouette. I said nothing, I pretended to be asleep. I couldn't burden him with my fears. I couldn't make what he had to do that much harder. I couldn't stand up for myself and tell him that at least I still needed him."

A few more tears fell, but her expression hadn't changed from its usual calm solemnness. Miyuki thought she must look like one of the statues that sometimes are claimed to miraculously weep. Miyuki felt as she looked on that what she was witnessing was something miraculous. It was as if an angle before her very eyes had emerged from that "statue" known as Miya to impart knowledge to her alone.

"The next day a servant rushed to me to tell me it was my last chance to say goodbye. I ran with a fury to the main door. I saw him walking out the front to a waiting car. I reached my hand for the latch. I was going to rush out and stop him. I was going to scream to my father that I still needed him. I was going to beg him to not go, to not walk out of our lives forever."

Miya's eyes looked like she could still see that very day. Her right hand lifted slightly as if she was about to extend it for that same door latch even now.

"Then, for some reason I still don't comprehend, I pulled my hand back; and I let my father get in that car and drive away. He never returned. We didn't even have a body to cremate. I had one last chance to save my family, and I failed. My failure, my inability to act when required, cost me my father, my sister, and it would eventually cost me my son as well. At age twelve I had failed my family completely, and I have paid for my failures every day since."

Miyuki could feel her mother's intense pain as if it were sheets of driving rain smashing into her and beating her down. Still, she couldn't understand how mother had failed Tatsuya, and she certainly didn't feel that her mother had lost her son yet. In Miyuki's mind there was still time to fix things between them.

"He's only thirteen…."

Miyuki was stunned that her mother had been thinking of Tatsuya in the same moment as her.

"…but he reminds me of father so much. He also looks somewhat like Tatsurou, but when he grows up Tatsuya will look just like his grandfather. He already sounds like him, and that will only increase as his voice deepens. And the mannerisms, it seems like he is a direct reincarnation at times."

Miyuki had also seen and heard videos of Yotsuba Genzou. She could see the resemblance her mother spoke of. Genzou radiated, even in those old videos, a dignity and strength that was very much like Tatsuya; and they did look very much alike. Miyuki absentmindedly pondered the irony of her and Onii-sama favoring two people who married each other. Then her mother's words returned to her ears.

"And yet my worst failure, my worst mistake was yet to come."

Miyuki turned desperately towards her mother's words. She feared what she thought she'd hear next. It was what she fearfully had expected.

"Tatsuya."

Miyuki bounded out of her seat in fury.

"ONII-SAMA IS NOT A FAILURE! ONII-SAMA IS THE GREATEST MAGICIAN IN THE WORLD! NO ONE CAN EVER COMPARE TO ONII-SAMA! NEVER!"

Her mother wasn't shocked by her actions or angered by her. There was no typical rebuking expression. She looked at Miyuki with those cold, dead eyes; but she didn't seem to actually focus on Miyuki. It was as if she saw something beyond her daughter.

This look made Miyuki start to shake uncontrollably. It was terrifying. The look in Miya's eyes seemed to see something devastating approaching them rapidly from far away.

"With my inactions I have cursed my son with a power no human or even nation should ever have. In his hands is the power to destroy everything and everyone that has ever existed. Tatsuya could, in one moment of rage, wipe out any evidence that there ever was anything called the human race."

Finally her eyes seemed to see her daughter once again.

"A God-like power, in the hands of a child, because I didn't protect him. Because I didn't watch him. Because she slipped past me when I didn't even know I should have been looking. Because I failed as his mother."

 _"She? She who?"_

Miyuki's confusion and curiosity never manifested into an actual verbal question.

"And now my child carries the burden of my failures on his slender shoulders, and the only thing I can do to help him is to hurt him, to make him resilient enough to bear his God-like burden. What a terrible mother I am."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE, YOU ARE A GREAT MOTHER! IF YOU WOULD ONLY SHARE THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR ME WITH ONII-SAMA….!"

"But I cannot"

"…..WHY?"

Miyuki was crying profusely now, she was at the edge of her breaking point. Miya smiled at her tenderly but the pain in her eyes was unbearable for Miyuki to behold. In her rage and confusion Miyuki had inadvertently began to slow the particles of air in the room down. The room grew colder and frost began to form on every surface. Within moments everything in the room was coated in a fine white layer, save for her and Miya. Now only the condensing breaths of the two moved inside the room.

Without even acknowledging her daughter's lack of magical control, Miya broke the dreadful silence.

"Because I love him."

"...WHAT?"

Miyuki was losing her tolerance by this point.

"For Tatsuya, love is death."

Miyuki could only stare back at her mother's incomprehensible words. Then her mother, frozen tear tracks streaking her face too, reached her hands up to Miyuki. On instinct alone Miyuki reached back. Her mother gently pulled her onto the couch beside her and wrapped her arms around her.

"You are a very smart girl Miyuki, but even you are too young to understand some things, perhaps."

She laid her head sideways on top of Miyuki's head, as they held each other.

"You saw Material Burst yourself Miyuki, then you heard me explain it to the General. You know your Onii-sama only used a tiny fraction of the power at his command."

She then gently turned Miyuki's chin so they were face to face.

"He can probably convert the moon to energy Miyuki. He could even possibly convert the Sun. He could make an entire section of this galaxy go dark forever. Everything and everyone that has ever existed on this planet, gone. The Earth itself gone, as if it never existed."

Miyuki knew her mother could feel her trembling in her arms.

"But…but Onii-sama….he would never….."

Miya stroked her head.

"The Tatsuya we know now, the chances are very low he would; but even something much smaller from him could risk all life on this planet."

Miyuki didn't want to hear this. Perhaps her mother was right about her being too young to understand, but Miyuki didn't think her mother really wanted to understand it all either.

"But what if Tatsuya was a 'normal' boy, with 'normal' boy emotions?"

Miyuki looked with trepidation at her mother then.

"He has had the power of Material Burst since he was a baby, but magic ability only first manifests at late toddler age. What would happen if he got mad that someone took his favorite toy? One wrong thought and the whole world perishes?"

Miyuki didn't think to cover her open mouth in her shock.

"What if a 'normal' Tatsuya fell in love; but the girl rejected him, or later betrayed him with a close friend of his? What if a myriad of emotions bombarded him all the time, like they do you and me; but one angry thought would make him destroy the world? Imagine the burden he'd face, living in terror of his own emotions."

Miyuki turned away in desperation. Every day she was bombarded by new feeling and new experiences. Today had been the most emotionally trying day of her young life. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to worry about one false step resulting in everything being destroyed.

"….poor Onii-sama."

"Indeed, poor Onii-sama."

Miya laid her head on top of Miyuki's head again. It felt like both of them were supporting the other upright due to their physical and emotional exhaustion.

"There was never any chance that the Artificial Magic Calculation procedure I performed on him would ever make him a better systematic magician. It's a lie we told the family."

Miyuki was so exhausted now she couldn't muster the strength to be stunned. Everything she knew this morning to be the fundamental truths of her life were all exposed as lies.

"…..it was so you could take away his emotions?"

Miya looked somewhat surprised at her huddled up daughter.

"….you are indeed a very intelligent young girl Miyuki."

After another long silence Miya continued.

"When you get angry, the room you're in turns cold and white."

Miya looked around at the frost covered room, and Miyuki followed her gaze with some embarrassment.

"…..I'm sorry."

As she said these words she reversed her magic, within moments the frost was gone.

Miya smiled sadly at her then.

"But if your Onii-sama could get mad like Miyuki just did…."

Miyuki looked away sadly as her imagination filled in where her mother's words ended.

Then Miyuki furrowed her brows with a thought. When she could contain it no more she finally gave her thoughts a voice.

"But if loving Onii-sama is like poison to him, why did you allow Onii-sama to love me?"

Miya sighed sadly at this.

"Because I didn't want him to be like your aunt. I couldn't repeat my previous mistakes with her, not with his powers. Can you imagine if your aunt had Tatsuya's powers? Can you imagine how scary the world would be? His love and devotion to you are what keep him human. In that way you protect him from becoming arrogant and God-like. That is why I left his love for you intact in his heart, so that you can protect him and keep him safe with that love when I'm gone."

Miya started to tear up again, but her alabaster like appearance still did not change.

"And while he protects your body, you will protect his mind and together you will keep the world and each other safe from his terrible burden."

After another long silence Miya stroked Miyuki's hair and spoke again.

"I know it is a lot to ask of you Miyuki…"

"It is not mother!"

Miyuki popped up from the couch to stand before Miya.

"I will protect Onii-sama every day of my life!"

Miya smiled at her earnestly then.

"Yes…..I should have known you would."

And then her face turned somber again.

"Please repeat the words I asked you to remember Miyuki."

Miyuki reluctantly recalled the words and repeated them.

"The worst thing you can tell a God, is that he is a God."

Miya used her right hand then to stroke Miyuki's left cheek and wipe away her tears.

"These words protect him Miyuki. These words protect him from your own, and other's intense admiration and adulation. The world will see him and his powers as a savior, but if he ever loses his humbleness he will become the greatest danger in human history."

She leaned back onto the couch then and breathed heavily.

"I will not oppose you loving him Miyuki. I suppose it was inevitable. Though we could have used some more time."

Miyuki's heart soared with these words, but the next statement devastated her.

"But now that you understand why I must deprive my son of my own love, you must abandon your attempts to change that."

All joy she had felt was gone.

 _"…..poor Onii-sama!"_

"Not being able to show my son my love for him is the price I must pay for my sins."

 _"…..poor momma!"_

"The price I must pay for my inaction, cowardice, and negligence."

 _"I will have to love you both even more now. For each other's sake."_

"The price I have to pay to save him, from becoming something far worse than death itself."

The faraway look returned to Miya's eyes.

"The demon that devours the world."

Coldness and emptiness once again shown in those sad eyes.

"…..The Destroyer of Worlds."

Miya looked towards her daughter through her own exhaustion. All life seemed to drain from her now.

"What a horrible burden your terrible mother has placed on her children's shoulders."

The alabaster statue seemed to crumble before Miyuki's sad eyes.

"The power to destroy the world, and the responsibility to prevent it."

Miya seemed to shrink into nothingness before Miyuki's eyes.

"I hope one day you both will understand, and will somehow find it within you to forgive me."

Exhaustion finally won its battle against this frail but powerful woman's willpower.

"…..such a terrible….terrible mother….deserved…so much…..better."

And with these words Miya finally passed out in her exhaustion.

Miyuki found a blanket in the closet and covered her mother with it gently, wiping away the tear stains on her cheeks.

 _"The real you momma is a beautiful and loving mother. Your burdens cover the real you. I love you so much momma. To suffer this much for Onii-sama's sake."_

Miyuki sat back down and watched with tear stained eyes as her mother's chest gently rose and fell with each labored breath.

 _"One day momma, I will make sure Onii-sama knows what it cost you not to be able to love him. This I swear momma."_

* * *

On the other side of the base from the guardhouse Miyuki and their mother now shared alone, Tatsuya looked on as several large fires burned in organized rows.

"I'm sorry about this Tatsuya-san, there's no excuse."

The foul odor of burning bodies assaulted his olfactory senses.

The base was not equipped with a dedicated crematoria. Even if it had been, this number of bodies would have overwhelmed its capacity.

The dead, mostly from the enemy invasion forces, were being cremated on open pyres in a clearing in the woods north of the base.

"It is fine Captain."

Despite Tatsuya's assurances, Yanagi was still somewhat despondent.

"Damn it all….someone like her deserves better….than this."

He angrily waved his hand across the gruesome scene before them. Four rows and twelve columns of pyres were doing their jobs, rendering the bodies of the dead into ashes and charred bones.

Somewhere deep inside him he agreed with Yanagi, but it was such a distant place inside himself that it didn't even seem real.

Tatsuya knew the procedure. A picture of the dead was taken, identifying features noted. Fingerprints and DNA samples were then collected and the immediate cause of death noted. Then the enemy combatants' bodies were burned, and the charred bones smashed with hammers. Once the fires had cooled in a few days the whole scene would be bulldozed over and this combat training area would go back to its previous job.

No marker or sign to indicate that the remains of the dead were even here.

In Tatsuya's mind the enemy didn't deserve even this much concern or care.

Identified enemy magicians would get the same preliminary treatment somewhere else, but their remains would be put on ice in a morgue or even in industrial meat freezers depending on the volume of bodies, so that their DNA might have the chance to reveal useful materials for further magic study.

The dead comrades of the Self Defense Forces would obviously receive the best treatment for their remains. Most were on ice now and would be flown back to the home islands for their families, friends, and comrades to properly mourn and honor their sacrifices.

This was why Yanagi was so incensed. Honami had played a pivotal part in the victory today. Even though he never met her, even he wanted more for her.

 _"A Hero of Okinawa. Shouldn't I want more for her too?"_

At that moment a few soldiers walked up and addressed Yanagi.

"Sir, we've done as you commanded. It's ready."

Yanagi, when they first came on this scene, had called over some of the soldiers and ordered them to make a separate pyre off to the side and away from the burning ashes of the enemy. A Lieutenant overseeing everything, and not realizing Yanagi was now a Captain, tried to argue the point and a furious verbal conflict ensured until Yanagi made it clear that if the Lieutenant didn't comply he would have trouble breathing out of his nose for a few days.

After that the soldiers moved quickly to comply with Yanagi's orders.

"About damn time!"

The day had been stressful for everyone. Yanagi was now showing his fatigue with anger.

"Respectfully take her to the pyre….."

"No!"

Tatsuya was surprised himself at his angry sounding words. Something inside of him, for a split second only, came up within; then disappeared.

 _"A memory of…something? A…feeling?"_

Even Tatsuya couldn't answer that question. He knew somewhere inside he should be furious. He knew he should be devastated.

Because somewhere inside he knew he should love her, and he felt shame that he couldn't.

 _"You deserve so much more than I can give you."_

He turned to the stunned soldiers.

"I have her."

Yanagi spoke to him as he turned around.

"Are you sure Tatsuya-san? If you want I can help you…"

"Thank you sir, but it is not necessary. I can carry her alone."

He gently slid his hands under the cloth and Honami's body, with one arm under her knees and the other under her back. He lifted her effortlessly off the back of the vehicle. Despite his small and youthful stature, he seemed to have no issues carrying her remains.

Yanagi bit off his previous words with a sad and concerned look.

"Of course Tatsuya-san."

Tatsuya skillfully made sure her still covered head laid securely in the crook of his neck. How many times had he thought of holder her like this when she was alive? Even for someone with his limited emotions; having such a beautiful, graceful, attentive, and caring woman like her around stirred his young hormones.

 _"You were so gentle with me, and kind. I am unworthy of it all."_

The image of a boy carrying a woman's dead body to a funeral pyre must have been a powerful one. Everyone stopped what they were doing and followed Tatsuya as he took Honami forward with a strength that belied his age and size.

He very carefully laid her down on top of the wooden platform above the stack. The cloth never moved, he made sure to carefully lay her head down with extra care.

To his surprise he began to hear some sniffling going on behind him. Hardened soldiers, after today all veterans of real combat, somehow where moved to emotions by what he was doing. One man even started to cry.

 _"You deserve copious tears Honami. You deserve my tears. I'm so defective I can't even hate myself for not being able to give those tears for you. You deserve better mourners than these strangers and a 'defective'."_

Inside him somewhere, just beyond the reach of his mind; tears, or the memory of tears, lingered just out of his reach. Tears for her, for the woman who saved his life.

 _"You deserve so much more, more than me."_

Tatsuya lifted the blanket from her body. She looked like she was only asleep. A beautiful smile graced her face. He began to straighten out her limbs and used his hand to brush her hair the way Honami preferred it to look.

Behind him Tatsuya heard a few whispered words.

"She's so beautiful."

"To die so young."

"Why did she have to be so damn pretty?"

"But she doesn't even seem injured."

"What could have killed her?"

Tatsuya heard a light hiss from Yanagi to silence the soldiers.

 _"What killed her?...me."_

He looked down at her and felt the memory of some distant pain.

 _"….because I was weak, she had to spend her own life to save mine."_

He knew the pain he should feel and hated himself for his inability to feel it.

 _"...to waste her life for someone as broken and worthless as me."_

He began to fold the blanket then.

 _"She deserved someone better to save. Someone that could give her the tears she deserves."_

Seeing him folding the blanket, Yanagi spoke up.

"Tatsuya-san, we don't need the blanket. You can burn it too."

He turned to Yanagi then and blinked, before speaking as he laid the blanket to the side.

"That would be wasteful Captain."

Yanagi only scratched the back of his head at this with a perplexed and mournful expression. Tatsuya's next actions truly stunned everybody watching.

He moved back to Honami's body and began to undo the combat suit she was wearing.

"Tatsuya, what are you doing?"

Again Tatsuya looked at him with slight confusion, but never stopped removing the combat suit.

"This suit is undamaged sir."

Yanagi shook his head in bewilderment.

"Who cares? There's no need to disrobe her. We aren't that hard up for combat suits."

Tatsuya stopped and looked down at the suit on Honami for a few seconds as if he were pondering Yanagi's words. Then he shook his head lightly and continued to remove it from Honami's body.

"If seeing her in her underclothes bothers you sir you can turn away. It will not offend me."

"Tatsuya, that's not the…."

"But Honami would be the first to say that burning a perfectly good combat suit was a waste of valuable national resources. I have seen Honami in a bathing suit many times. Her underwear covers the same areas."

He paused then in thought, then continued a moment later.

"She was not someone that got flustered over modesty issues."

He was looking at her smiling visage as he said this, and finally removed the suit from around her legs. Before him lay a beautiful woman in the prime of her life, dressed only in her undergarments.

He heard a reluctant sigh behind him.

"Of course, Tatsuya-san knows best what her wishes would have been."

Yanagi and the other soldiers wanted to treat this beautiful young woman like she was a normal girl. Not some tool or weapon. Of course they didn't understand her origins in a laboratory of the Fourth Magic Research Institute, or her intended use as a human shield for Yotsuba family members.

 _"But if they did….would they care?"_

Tatsuya didn't think that they would, and that for some reason caused him to experience satisfaction.

"Won't you let me go?"

Her words as she lay dying before him hours ago echoed in his mind.

 _"I had no choice in the matter. If I had I would have never let you go."_

"I didn't get to choose how I lived, but I have chosen how I died."

 _"But you could have been so much more…with more time…you saved me...but I failed you."_

These words echoed in his mind as he looked down upon her pristine and perfect body one last time. He knew she wasn't a delicate, porcelain beauty like his mother, or a sultry vixen like his aunt; and she certainly didn't have the all-encompassing radiance that he knew Miyuki would bear once puberty set in.

But there was something uniquely beautiful about Honami.

Before he realized what he was doing he had ran the fingers of his left hand down her right cheek and across her lips. Surprised by his own actions, he withdrew his hand and stood upright again. No one watching seemed to think anything was odd about it.

A Sergeant in charge of the detail that built her pyre whispered to Yanagi from behind Tatsuya.

"Who was this beautiful young woman?"

Tatsuya could sense Yanagi's long pause before replying, as he searched within himself for the right words to say.

"Sergeant, tell all your men. I can't go into further details, but this woman before us saved all our lives today. We are alive thanks to her sacrifice, and we all owe that young man there our lives as well. These two are heroes and should be honored that way."

Tatsuya knew the others nearby heard Yanagi's words, as he had intended them to. He could sense amazement from the eyes looking on him now where before there had only been curiosity, sympathy, and sadness.

"Understood sir!"

Before he realized it the entire two platoons' worth of soldiers present, conducting the cremations, had lined up around Tatsuya and Honami's body.

He was stunned by his own lack of awareness. He chalked it up to extreme fatigue.

"Tatsuya….."

Yanagi lightly called to him then. It was a mild reminder that they should proceed with this unpleasant task. When Tatsuya nodded, the Sergeant called out to everyone present.

"ATTENTION!"

The unified sound of one hundred and sixty four combat boots shuffling into order echoed in Tatsuya's ears. He joined the rest at attention a second later.

"Before us is our honored dead, who's selfless sacrifice not only resulted in our victory today, but also in the preservation of our own lives. Remember her family and love ones when you return to your own. Honor her life and the lives of our other fallen comrades as you live your own lives."

The pause then was only for a second, but for Tatsuya it felt like an eternity, as he stared down one last time into his friend's tranquil and beautiful face.

 _"You were the only one that cared for me before today. You deserve so much more than I ever gave you in return."_

"RENDER…ARMS!"

Eighty three right arms brought eighty three right hands simultaneously to eighty three right temples.

 _"At least you had this appropriate sendoff on your final journey."_

He couldn't understand why it was so stressful for him to not feel emotional pain in this moment. It was as if his body demanded something that his brain refused to produce for it. A vital element within him being withheld as if for no reason.

He took a deep breath, and then a second later a minuscule magic sequence created from flash cast in his mind made a tiny spark on the petrol soaked logs that formed Honami's pyre. It was all he could manage, but since the logs were doused beforehand it was all that was needed.

 _"A flawed creation."_

He took only one step back then, as Honami's body was surrounded by flame on four sides within seconds.

"Dismissed!"

And with that the majority of those present beat a hasty retreat from the scene and returned to burning the corpses of the enemy combatants.

Outdoor cremation wasn't a pleasant task, but at least from an emotional standpoint it was easier for most to watch the bodies of the enemy burn than to see a comrade charred into ashes and burnt bones. The fact that it was a young and beautiful woman as well was undoubtedly a multiplying factor to everyone's discomfort.

Within minutes the original funeral pyre construction detail went back to their previous duties as well, and Tatsuya was left with only Yanagi as support. The two stood there and watched vigilantly as exquisite beauty was rendered into carbon ashes.

Tatsuya, standing so close that he could feel the heat radiating on his face, never took his eyes off her. Maybe it was because for the last half hour his nose had adjusted to the stench of the burning enemy bodies already. Surely Honami's flesh wasn't particularly fragrant as it burned.

He looked on as the delicate flesh of her face burned away into the flames and the last vestiges of visual identification were erased from the corpse.

"Tatsuya, you don't….don't have to be…"

He could hear the discomfort in Yanagi's voice. Honami had been a beautiful woman near the Captain's own age. Perhaps the Captain could picture in his mind this woman as a love interest, or maybe a sister? Either way, normal people would be disturbed by what they saw before them now.

"…so close."

 _"….normal people?"_

The concept of "normal" was abnormal to Tatsuya.

"I am fine Sir."

Yanagi reluctantly accepted Tatsuya's statement. The two watched on in silence, Yanagi several steps behind Tatsuya, as everything that physically was Sakurai Honami fell to the Earth or disappeared into the twilight sky above.

Time seemed to mean nothing to Tatsuya. Sometime during his sojourn over Honami's remains Major Kazama and Captain Sanada had joined Yanagi behind him. They had both changed out of their combat suits and into their dress white uniforms. Tatsuya appreciated the gesture, but thought that risking marring their best uniforms would have vexed Honami somewhat. She had always admonished Miyuki and himself to be mindful of their clothing.

If they marred their uniforms, Tatsuya considered asking Miyuki to fix it with magic. She had become quite good at removing dirt from clothing.

Night now dominated the sky above. The last vestiges of sunlight had disappeared in the west. Only the fire and smoke of the funeral pyres obstructed the brightness of the stars above. He knew on instinct that even the Milky Way could be seen on such a clear and moonless evening. Yet Tatsuya never took his eyes off the blackened skull below him. The eyes long gone now, he stared into the empty sockets. The sound of the marrow steaming out of the bones had finally ended just minutes before.

For some odd reason Tatsuya was pleased her skull hadn't cracked and collapsed during that process. Even her blackened skull seemed to possess some kind of "beauty" to it. He vaguely wondered to himself if all his mental and physical fatigue had caused him to enter a trance-like state, but dismissed the notion immediately because he still had the faculty about him to even ask such a question.

 _"What normal person thinks of something like that at a time like this?"_

He could feel that he should feel more, but somehow he couldn't make his mind register the emotions.

 _"Why couldn't mother have left me with the ability to at least hate myself?"_

He really did desperately wish he could apply self-loathing for his failure to save her life, and his lack of emotion for her death.

 _"Honami deserves my tears in abundance. Why can't I at least give her one simple tear?"_

He could only look on and feel his own disappointment in himself now. Somehow he had forgotten that he had been close to tears earlier that day for Miyuki's sake. His memories of earlier now contained no recollections of extreme emotions.

 _"Even in this, I have failed you."_

Even he couldn't understand the creature his mother had made him into. A living machine with the memories of emotions but the inability to apply them.

 _"Am I even human anymore….was I ever human?"_

The only time he ever truly felt close to being human again was with…..

 _"…..Miyuki."_

The only time the memories of emotions reached his mind was for….

 _"…..Miyuki."_

The only time he could relax or decompress was with…

 _"…..Miyuki."_

The reason he lived on at all was for…

 _"…..Miyuki."_

He smiled down at Honami's skull then.

 _"Had Miyuki been with me, I would have felt better, because she could give Honami the tears she truly deserved; and then I could have given Miyuki the care that Honami would have been proud of. Then together we could have sent Honami on her way with the sendoff she had truly earned."_

He was glad she didn't see this. This was no way for a loving and sensitive person like Miyuki to see off someone who had loved them. Yet he vowed to defy their mother if she didn't wish for Miyuki to accompany him when they set her ashes free.

 _"Because when we are together we are whole."_

Behind him he heard Kazama, Sanada, and Yanagi shout at him to stop.

He had reached his arms into the still raging flames. His flesh, like Honami's before, now crisped and charred.

He could feel them rushing up behind him, and he could feel...the pain.

"TATSUYA! PULL BACK NOW!"

The Major shouted to him, but Tatsuya didn't listen to his words.

The pain was….exquisite.

 _"For you Honami. I give you the only pain I can feel."_

 _"The pain…finally I can release my pain."_

Hands reached around him and pulled him back.

"NO! LET ME GO!"

They didn't understand.

"Stop Tatsuya! Please!"

He struggled to free himself from them as they pulled him back and he reached desperately again for the fire, before….

"Damage detected."

"NOOOOO!"

"Reading core Eidos from Memory."

"LET ME GO PLEASE!"

"Activating Self Restoration Sequence."

"IT'S ALL I CAN GIVE HER!"

"Restoration complete."

"NOOOOO!"

All three of them had witnessed it at close range now. In their astonishment they had forgot themselves and finally he freed himself from them. Once upright he turned around and pulled his completely restored combat uniform sleeves down to show them.

"But…..the burns?"

"….How?"

Tatsuya frantically replied to the bewildered Yanagi and Kazama.

"Self Restoration! My subconscious forces me to use Regrowth on myself if I take enough damage! I will never be able to permanently damage myself!"

Then he turned back and plunged his arms again into the raging fires.

"DAMNIT TATSUYA! STOP!"

Sanada's desperate plea meant nothing to Tatsuya.

"It's the only thing I can give her. This is the only pain I can feel. I have to give her my pain. She deserves more than I can give."

Slowly a groan began to escape from his mouth.

"AhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The mortified officers could only look on as Tatsuya…felt….the only pain he was allowed to feel….for her.

And despite the howl of intense pain….he was smiling.

But the officers couldn't let this macabre scene go on any longer.

Around him Tatsuya felt a sudden surge of magic, and then the flames of the funeral pyre disappear.

He spun around in disappointment, and as he did so Self Restoration returned the charred flesh of his hands, fingers, and forearm to pristine condition a second time.

"Please!"

For the first time since they had met him Tatsuya finally sounded like a regular thirteen year old boy.

"….it's the only pain I can give her."

They looked on equal parts sadness and mortification.

"….it's all I can…feel…she…..I…."

And then Major Kazama put his hands on both his shoulders.

"I didn't know her well son, but she seemed to love you and your sister very much. I can't imagine she'd want you to feel any pain….ever."

He looked down very seriously into Tatsuya's eyes.

"She certainly wouldn't want THIS."

He grabbed Tatsuya's hands and brought them upward so Tatsuya would look at them.

"And what about your sister?"

Tatsuya returned stunned eyes to Kazama.

"…Miyuki?"

"Imagine the additional pain she would have to feel to know you did this to yourself."

"….but, it's all I….."

"Find something less self-destructive and painful to honor Sakurai-san. She would undoubtedly be feeling pain now if she had seen the damage you inflicted on yourself, no matter if you can heal it instantly or not."

He was right, neither Miyuki nor Honami would have appreciated or understood what he was trying to do. He realized now that it was a selfish act on his part, to relieve his own sense of guilt; but to cause Miyuki potential pain was unacceptable under any circumstances..

"I will not do that again Sir, you have my word."

"Good."

And with that Kazama calmly stepped back in line with Sanada and Yanagi, and Tatsuya returned his gaze to the charred bones of Honami.

He reached down and lightly touched the now chilled off right cheek bone of the charred skull.

As if he had used magic on it, jaw, teeth and all, Honami's skull crumbled like sand before his eyes.

"Noooooo!"

The heating and then rapid cooling of the bones had broken the molecular bonds that held the individual molecules together. Fine powder replaced solid bones with a touch.

From somewhere deep inside him a pain welled up into his heart, stomach, throat and mind.

He clutched at his chest as if his heart would burst forth from it.

 _"This…..pain!"_

And then from each of his eyes, as he squeezed them tightly against this surprising sensation, one solitary tear escaped and rolled gently down his dusty cheeks.

And he opened those eyes slowly as he looked up into the glorious night sky. Every star in the firmament seemed that much brighter than he had ever remembered it before.

Miyuki would have said something like it was Honami's spirit making the stars shine brighter for him, but her now charred and fragile bones had given him a much better gift than that.

In that moment he had been allowed, by something that could only be called "miraculous", to…..feel….for her.

 _"I will protect mother for your sake Honami."_

A sense of determination welled up inside of him.

 _"I will protect Miyuki and care for her even better than before in memory of your love for her Honami."_

His sense of duty and obligation pushed his thoughts forward.

 _"I will make myself truly worthy of the love and life you sacrificed for me Honami!"_

He owed her nothing less.

 _"And I will one day free the Guardians from their enslavement, so that they can live their lives as you should have been allowed to live yours."_

And in her honor and memory he made a solemn promise.

 _"_ _They will get to choose their lives for themselves! They will live for themselves! And they will die for themselves! I swear it to you Honami, I swear it on my life."_


	6. Chapter 6: Grief

Miyuki had joined her mother in slumber.

It had been her earnest intent to dutifully wait for her Onii-sama's return, but the weight of the day had finally defeated her will to resist.

Her Onii-sama returned very late to the guardhouse.

When he gently woke her she couldn't help but smile with joy at his handsome face.

"…Onii-sama has returned to me."

She was still half asleep as he carried her to the waiting vehicle wrapped in a blanket.

"…so strong."

He smiled down at her. He smelled good too. He must have taken a shower. She could see he was in the normal clothes he had worn before going after the enemy.

"….for my sake alone."

The next thing Miyuki remembered was sitting in the back of the vehicle wrapped in the same blanket. Beside her, her mother looked down at her with sleepy eyes of her own, and also wrapped in a blanket.

"Are you alright Miyuki?"

She looked around her mother to the deck of the guardhouse. All the equipment Tatsuya had disassembled and then reassembled earlier was gone now. Tatsuya was on the deck with Yanagi, speaking to the Sergeant and Corporal who had watched over them all afternoon and evening.

"I'm fine mother."

She only said this after confirming Tatsuya's location and apparent condition for herself. Miya then looked back at where her son was.

"Oh, I see."

Mother and daughter exchanged a tired but knowing glance.

"Would you like a water ma'am?"

The soldier in the driver's seat asked Miyuki while passing a bottle back to her.

"…..Higaki-san?"

Higaki Joseph was the Lance Corporal who had tried to protect them when the other Left-Bloods had rebelled.

He was also the "boy" who had "tried" to harass Tatsuya and her on the beach a few day before.

All of that was in the distant past now for her. Tatsuya had apparently forgiven him days before and after today Miyuki certainly didn't intend to hold a grudge.

"…you're hurt?"

He wore a bandage across his left shoulder.

"Don't bother yourself about that. The bullet went clean through, and healing magic has already got me halfway home. See, they even trust me to drive now."

He smiled brightly at her. She now had a hard time associating him with the angry boy on the beach that had fought Tatsuya only days before.

As her mother took the offered water bottle for her half asleep daughter she spoke up.

"We must thank the Lance Corporal for his efforts to protect us today Miyuki."

This clearly embarrassed Higaki.

"Please don't ma'am, I….I should have done more. They still got to you. I'm….had it not been for Tatsuya-san….."

Her mother once again surprised her with gentleness toward the floundering soldier she barely knew.

"We were all taken by surprise today Corporal, and we all could have done more under the right circumstances. Today was certainly not your fault in the slightest. You put yourself between my daughter and harm's way, and for that I am truly grateful."

Even in the darkness, Miyuki could see his embarrassment.

"Mother is right Higaki-san, you have our eternal gratitude."

He was even more embarrassed then.

"It is very kind of you both to say that. Thank you."

They sat in silence for a bit as Yanagi and Tatsuya finished their business. Miyuki saw him shake hands with their guards, and then the two soldiers turned towards the vehicle and waved goodbye. Miyuki and Miya returned their gesture.

The two combat magicians that had originally arrived with Yanagi were long gone now. Miyuki hoped they hadn't had to return to combat. She earnestly hoped the combat was finally over.

"Are you alright to travel Miyuki?"

She beamed at her Onii-sama's words.

"I will go anywhere with Onii-sama!"

Yanagi and Higaki tried to hide their amusement at her enthusiasm for her brother, and Tatsuya himself tried to hide his mild embarrassment from the both of them.

Miya turned only the slightest reproachful looks at her daughter, and with no sound moved her lips toward Miyuki.

"Please tone it down a little."

Miyuki reluctantly nodded, but then suddenly her eyes grew wider as realization struck her mind. She then turned back towards her mother in trepidation.

Miya smirked knowingly back at her, and then her lips formed more soundless words.

"Who do you think told Honami to teach you lip reading and about false masks?"

Miyuki turned silently away then, trying to hide her shock from Tatsuya.

 _"Did she see me watching them today?"_

Miyuki wouldn't dare ask that question to her mother on this night.

Tatsuya and Yanagi boarded the vehicle on the back and in the passenger seat respectively, and then they drove off down the road.

She turned back to see Tatsuya dutifully watching around for any threats to them. It was only then she saw he had a container in his hands.

She turned around and didn't bother her Onii-sama for the rest of the ride home.

It was alright for him to hold another woman in his arms tonight, so long as it's their Honami.

The roads, unlike earlier in the day, where all now empty. Only the occasional abandoned or damaged vehicle marred the way. The only other vehicles actually moving on the roads were also military.

They passed through one area that had been the scene of intense fighting. Military guards were protecting civilian firefighters as they fought to stop several stores and businesses from burning completely down. The fact that no magicians with fire suppression skills were present told Miyuki these buildings weren't priorities to save, or the magicians were still busy somewhere else.

Miyuki tried to distract her mind from the fearsome ground level views by looking up at the stars on occasion as they traveled.

 _"It's so bright tonight! Not a cloud in the sky! I can even see the Milky Way!"_

It was a beautiful sky indeed. The view was certainly helped by the huge swaths of area they traveled though without functioning electricity and street lamps.

 _"The heavens are welcoming Honami-chan."_

A few tears escaped her eyes with that thought.

She didn't initially see her Onii-sama behind her smiling at her as she stared upwards. She was surprised to see him doing so when she turned around. She could see the starlight reflecting in his kind eyes. She was happy to know he probably saw the same in her own eyes too.

When they arrived back in the area their villa was in, they did a quick security sweep of the surroundings. Once they verified it was relatively safe they were dropped off at the villa itself. She waited as her mother and Tatsuya spoke with Yanagi. She was too tired to catch everything they said, but her mother seemed interested when Yanagi had informed her that General Saeki had gotten right back on her hypersonic transport to return the Home Islands.

As they spoke another military vehicle arrived and the men inside spoke with Yanagi and Tatsuya. They were apparently the first part of the patrol around their villa that the General had insisted upon. Once Yanagi had given Miya and Tatsuya the info on how to contact them or the local patrol, Yanagi and Higaki said their goodbyes and left.

Tatsuya followed Miya and Miyuki inside. In his arms he cradled the container with Honami's remains.

Seeing this, Miya gave instructions.

"Once we are settled here, you will take that down to the sea and scatter her remains in the water."

"No."

"NO!"

They had surprised each other by both speaking the same word simultaneously. From the look on their mother's face she was equally surprised. Once she recovered, she gingerly lowered herself onto the living room couch and looked back at them with exhausted frustration showing.

"Well since I've been outvoted, what do my children propose instead?"

Miyuki and Tatsuya exchanged glances then, but Miya spoke up first.

"That will not be flying back with us. It is not Honami, not anymore, and besides that it is macabre to place ashes in one's home and pretend like the dead are still with us that way. I won't have it, and Honami wouldn't want that either."

Miyuki knew her mother was right about what Honami would have preferred.

"We can spread her ashes in the sea at the scene of the battle."

Miyuki turned to Tatsuya with his words. His eyes locked with hers.

"...if that pleases Miyuki."

"It does, very much Onii-sama!"

Miya sighed then.

"What's wrong with the beach here? It's a nicer spot and there's no chance you can get injured. That was a battle scene earlier and it was swept by a small Tsunami wave as well. It might not even be the same place as it was earlier today. Plus it's kilometers away and probably under military guard."

Miyuki briefly wondered why the military would be guarding that area.

Miyuki was about to acquiesce to their mother's suggestion, but Tatsuya's words put resolve back into her.

"This place is not where Honami made her sacrifice for us."

Miyuki felt a small tremble inside her as she saw Tatsuya look at their mother with the same domineering and determined eyes he had earlier. It was as if the magic Miya had used on him was gone again.

Miyuki looked back to her mother who stared at her son with those cold and unloving eyes she hated so much to see.

But then Miya lowered her gaze and all the energy left her body.

"Very well son."

Delight entered Miyuki's heart as once again Miya referred to Tatsuya as "son", and this time with no audience save Miyuki.

Weak and tired eyes looked back up at Tatsuya again.

"Do as you think is best."

"Thank you…..mother."

The emphasis he placed on her title seemed to radiate respect from her Onii-sama. Mother and son, Miyuki's heart pounded in her chest with this relatively easy exchange of spoken titles.

"Yes! Thank you very much mother!"

A few moments later and Miyuki's stomach rumbled, much to her embarrassment. Seeing her Onii-sama smile at her then only heightened her mortification.

"As tired as we all are, I supposed we should still try to eat something."

Miya then looked at Tatsuya.

"Something light, Miyuki and I don't need…"

"No mother!"

Miya turned her eyes toward Miyuki with a furrowed brow.

"Excuse me young lady?"

Her reproach was intense.

"Um…my pardons mother….."

Then Miyuki found that tiny voice of determination within her again.

"….but it is not Onii-sama's place to prepare our meals."

Now Miya blinked in surprise.

"….is it not?"

"No mother, it is not. Onii-sama is my Guardian and must concentrate on our security and safety."

Miya blinked in surprise again. She hadn't expected her daughter to have a reasonable response.

"In addition, no one has worked harder today than Onii-sama. Therefore, it is Miyuki who will prepare all of our meals."

Miya looked like she was about to speak, but Miyuki bounded towards the kitchen area.

"Honami-chan has been instructing me in meal preparation."

Miya seemed surprised again.

Miyuki hadn't noticed she still used the present tense when speaking of Honami. It would be a long time before she could switch to past tense for referencing Honami.

"…did she?"

There was irritation and surprise mixed in with Miya's words. Miyuki didn't want Miya to think negatively of Honami in anyway and quickly moved to correct her bad impression.

"Um….I asked her to teach me. I was interested in meal preparation."

Now the curiosity on Miya's face was accompanied by her right eyebrow rising on her forehead.

"…aren't you full of surprises these days?"

Miya's statement was an odd mix of praise and criticism. To Miyuki it also had a bit of hypocrisy mixed in.

 _"Oh, I'M the one full of surprises, huh mother?"_

Miyuki wisely kept that thought to herself as she opened the refrigerator door. They all had become so used to Honami's home-cooked meals that none of them even remembered that the HAR for this villa included meal preparation functions.

Then Miyuki's eyes were caught by something on the shelf in front of her.

Tatsuya rushed over at the sound of sudden sobbing from his little sister.

"Miyuki, what in the world happened?"

Miya's concerned words reached Miyuki's ears as Tatsuya reached her body, and softly put himself between her and the open refrigerator door. His concerned eyes scanned the opening for potential threats.

When he saw nothing unusual he spoke to Miyuki.

"What's wrong Miyuki?"

She had already embedded her tearful face under his right arm and into his side. She turned enough to look with just one eye, then pointed down with her right index finger to four medium sized boxes on the lower shelf.

She heard Tatsuya inhale and exhale slowly as he recognized those four boxes. He then turned slightly to report to their mother.

"Honami apparently had prepared our meal for this evening ahead of time."

The four boxes were the bento boxes that they always used for their travel meals. In this case Honami had used them as containers for pre-prepared regular meals instead.

"…I see."

Miyuki could hear her mother's sadness, even if the lady herself refused to acknowledge that emotion even existed in her.

"You can show us your new culinary skills tomorrow night Miyuki. For tonight lay out Honami's prepared meal."

At her mother's words Miyuki, as if instinctively, looked up at her brother for his confirmation.

He lightly nodded to her.

"I'll help, Miyuki."

She nodded, then Tatsuya used his handkerchief to wipe away her tears. Miyuki didn't even have it in her to question her recent conversion to a full-fledged Tatsuya supporter. It felt so natural to her that she couldn't fathom how she acted towards him only hours before.

Together they set out three of the meals in three places around the head of the table. Then Tatsuya went to help their mother up. When Miyuki pulled out the chair to the right hand side of the head of the table for their mother, Tatsuya had shown brief concern, but Miya took the seat and Tatsuya slid the chair under her.

Once their mother was seated, Tatsuya was surprised to see Miyuki across from them and waiting for him to seat her with a smile. Her intention was clearly for Tatsuya to sit at the head of the table. Until recently he had taken most of his meals alone in his room. Now he had suddenly been promoted to the head position.

Miya either was too tired to scold them or simply no longer cared. Either way Tatsuya quickly moved to seat his very pleased looking sister, then took his new place at the head of the table.

The combined traditional statement of "thank you for the food" seemed to Miyuki's ears to have much more meaning for them all this time.

It was the last meal they would eat as a family, prepared by Honami's loving hands.

After a few bites, Miyuki was having a hard time not tearing up.

They ate in silence with Miya and Tatsuya taking turns making sure Miyuki didn't lose her composure with every bite.

Tatsuya, always efficient, was the first to finish. It was clear that Miya wasn't going to finish her meal. She rarely did.

"Is Onii-sama still hungry? You worked so hard today."

Before waiting for his response she already had a morsel between her chopsticks and holding it to his face with her other hand hovering underneath in case a piece dropped.

The look Miya sent them would have cowered a regiment of soldiers, but Miyuki no longer cared.

The smile on her face as she offered her awkward looking brother food was enough to get him to comply.

"Thank you Miyuki."

And he gratefully took the morsel off her chopsticks with his mouth.

The joy Miyuki felt at that moment felt like it was oozing out of her pours.

She very quickly picked up another piece for herself and shoved it in her mouth. She deliberately left the chopsticks in her mouth for much longer than needed, enraptured in the thought that they had just been in her Onii-sama's mouth as well.

When she finally withdrew them and began to chew, she opened her eyes as well. Looking back at her was a knowing smirk and a slight eyebrow raise. The look on Miya's face made Miyuki feel naked before her.

 _"Why must she always seem to know my thoughts?"_

Miyuki looked away from her mother with only the slightest irritation, and then immediately forced Tatsuya to take another piece of food off her chopsticks.

Sadness began to radiate off her as she realized they were down to the last few pieces of Honami's meal.

 _"I will never again taste her food."_

She could feel the flood of tears once again trying to break free inside her.

Seeing her despondent state, Tatsuya reminded her that they still had the final bento box originally intended for Honami to eat. He suggested they take it with them for lunch and eat it after they scatter her ashes in the sea. When their mother said she would be fine eating her own leftovers the matter was settled and Miyuki had something nice to look forward to the next day.

* * *

It was so late that Miya suggested they only take showers. They were too tired to enjoy a bath anyway, plus they might fall asleep in the water.

Tatsuya of course decided to sweep the now empty surrounding villas and beaches for any signs of trouble. Miya reminded him that he might be misidentified by the military patrols going around, but Tatsuya ensured her he would be discreet and hide his presence from them. That seemed to be enough to satisfy their mother.

Miyuki was not pleased by this turn of events and stewed alone in the shower over it.

 _"Hasn't Onii-sama done enough for one day? Why must she push him to do even more? Can't the military patrols do their jobs themselves?"_

While blaming their mother for Tatsuya's additional duties Miyuki conveniently forgot he was the one to suggest it. She ignored the fact that he would have insisted on doing a sweep simply because that is who he is, her defender and protector.

Once washed up, she reported to her mother's bedroom. Miya was still up and sitting in the bed, a data terminal in her hand. Miyuki could only guess what she had been reading, but it was probably the latest news reports of the battle today.

Miya turned relatively soft and caring eyes to her when she entered.

"All fresh and clean and ready for bed?"

Miyuki frowned slightly.

"I will be once Onii-sama has returned."

Miya's face changed to mild irritation.

"Repeat the words please."

Her mother's request sounded gentle, but there was iron in her words.

It took Miyuki a moment to register her mother's request.

"Um…."

It took her another second or two to recall what her mother was wanting her to say.

"The…..worst thing…you can tell a God, is…that he is a God."

A weak start with a stronger finish.

Miya nodded thoughtful affirmation to her daughter.

"I told you earlier I would let you love your Onii-sama if you would abandon any attempt to change my relationship with him."

Miyuki reluctantly nodded.

"There's an additional condition to this agreement."

Tension washed away in the shower shot right back up her spine.

"You will never tell anyone else what we discussed alone today Miyuki, especially Tatsuya."

Miyuki was somewhat relieved at this request since her imagination allowed her to think of many things worse than that. Still, she didn't like the thought of keeping secrets from him, especially the knowledge that his mother really did love him.

"Telling him I love him would expose him to the same dangers that made me withdraw my affections from him in the first place. Not to mention wasting thirteen years of very hard work."

Miyuki could feel happiness being pushed out of her by a wave of sadness, but she reluctantly nodded again.

"And you will not remind him later whenever he does seem to display emotions in the future, and for the exact same reasons."

Another sad nod followed.

"Yes mother."

Miya smiled sadly back to her.

"You will have to love him for the both of us."

Miyuki looked up with happily stunned eyes. Enthusiasm effused her response.

"I will momma! I promise!"

Miya nodded and dismissed her to bed.

"Now off to bed…..once you have verified Tatsuya is safe, of course."

Miyuki nodded and went to leave the room.

"Wait…"

She turned around at her mother's words. The look on Miya's face was hard to read.

"…what you witnessed today, through that slightly opened blind in the guardhouse office…."

Terror shown on her face and a chill ran down her spine.

 _"SHE SAW ME! BUT HOW?"_

Reading her daughter's face, Miya smiled a vicious looking grin at her.

"….yes my dear, I saw you. You also seem to think I don't know my own children, my own daughter."

Miyuki couldn't answer her as it was taking all her strength not to cower at this unexpected turn of events.

"You will never speak of that to anyone, ever. I can't express how bad it would be if anyone ever learned of that. Do you understand?"

Miyuki nodded stiffly in agreement.

"Good."

Miya's eyes softened then.

But that tiny voice inside her didn't allow Miyuki to simply walk away.

"What….."

Miya's eyes lifted again to her daughter.

"….that magic….it…what is it? What did it do…..to Onii-sama?"

Miya sighed heavily as she pondered her response.

"It took away….his pain."

"His pain?"

Miyuki didn't understand, and Miya didn't plan on elaborating further.

"Not tonight Miyuki, that's all I have for you now. Never speak of it to anyone especially Tatsuya, promise me, promise your Onii-sama too."

 _"Promise…Onii-sama?"_

"I promise mother."

Without fully understanding, she complied; but with the promise to understand more from her mother when she felt better.

They left things at that and after she saw Tatsuya was safely back inside, she went to her room.

* * *

By all rights, considering the momentous events of this tremendous day, she should have passed out once her head hit the pillow.

But for some reason, despite her extreme exhaustion, she couldn't find sleep. Her eyes kept drifting to the red colored lighted numbers on her bedside chronometer. She had watched it diligently for the last hour and eight minutes.

"23:58" was displayed on the chronometer now.

 _"The invasion."_

The day's events spun through her mind.

 _"Going to the military base."_

She couldn't allow a detail of this day to escape her mind.

 _"The Left-Bloods rebellion."_

Her heart ached.

 _"Being shot."_

Her emotions pounded at her.

 _"Regrowth!"_

Then joy swept in.

 _"Being one with Onii-sama!"_

A smile broke across her face.

 _"Seeing him go off to battle."_

Then a frown replaced it.

 _"Going into the bunker."_

The red lights on the chronometer face changed to "23:59".

 _"Watching Onii-sama stalk the battlefield."_

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

 _"Watching Honami-chan go to his side."_

Pride seeped into her heart.

 _"Seeing Onii-sama face the enemy ships alone."_

A smile stretched the corners of her mouth again.

 _"…..Honami-chan saving you!"_

And then her eyes widened.

 _"Material Burst!"_

And then another frown.

 _"…Honami-chan."_

A few tears escaped her eyes now.

 _"Onii-sama returned to me!"_

A smile broke through the tears.

 _"But he was...emotional?"_

She closed her eyes against the memory.

 _"….momma."_

The interactions between Miya and Tatsuya dominated her few final thoughts after that.

The chronometer finally read "0:00".

And a sigh of relief escaped Miyuki's mouth.

"…Honami-chan."

She couldn't hold her eyes open any longer.

"….momma."

Her breathing slowed.

"…..Onii-sama."

She drifted off into slumber at last.

The longest twenty-four hours of her life were finally at an end.

* * *

Miyuki woke the next morning somewhat later than usual, even on vacation.

She didn't sleep well at all the previous night. Her dreams were dominated by memories of Honami, and of course by thoughts of Onii-sama.

Yet when she finally woke it was a nightmare that had caused it.

Along with her sudden waking the nightmare was now drifting away from her mind, but Miyuki started fighting to remember it before it was gone.

She had seen herself on a beach. Attacking ships on the horizon firing their rail-guns.

She lofted up a long tube and felt a magic sequence deploy. Then she felt a kick from the tube as a projectile left its far end.

 _"…..a rifle?"_

She rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out, and mildly shook her head side to side as she lay on the pillow. The sunlight was streaming in through her room's curtains. The brightness reminded her of something else from the nightmare.

 _"Light…surrounding me?"_

It had been a multi-colored array of light. Then she remembered a great roaring sound at the light turned into flame.

She knew what she had dreamed of now.

 _"I….was in Onii-sama's place…..from yesterday?"_

She of course has had many nightmares before, but nothing this vivid and realistic. She was equally surprised to see things in this one from Tatsuya's perspective, and so realistically too. This certainly wasn't one of her normal dreams or nightmares.

 _"Can we share….dreams now?"_

That thought delighted her intensely, but her mind dismissed it as wishful thinking.

She remembered that the flames had disappeared as the shield also fell. Then a burning bright light filled the far horizon. A sonic boom reached her ears first, then a pressure wave buffeted her with wind.

She had heard a voice calling to her, but she couldn't remember the words. She turned around and there….

Remembering this part she involuntarily inhaled hard and covered her mouth with her hands. Then tears poured from her eyes and she fought to stop her sobbing from making noise.

In the nightmare when she turned around two men in combat suits were rushing toward her.

And on the ground below her laid…

 _"…Honami-chan!"_

Remembering this nightmare felt just like reality, as if she experienced this moment in real life for herself. She felt terror and anxiety wash through her.

 _"Why is it so vivid? Why do I feel this pain?"_

Now sitting upright in bed, she clutched at her chest as she fought to breathe.

 _"…..the pain!"_

It felt like something was stabbing her in the chest and lungs. Even the air seemed to burn her throat and lungs going in.

 _"If this is just the product of my own mind, when did I get this level of terrifying imagination?"_

And then a knock at the door shattered her thoughts of the terrible nightmare.

"Miyuki….are you alright?"

Her Onii-sama's voice rescued her from the pit of despair she had been rapidly sinking into.

"OH…..um, yes Onii-sama! I'll be out shortly."

 _"I mustn't burden Onii-sama."_

"…..OK, breakfast is ready."

She scowled at these words. It had been her intention to wake before him and make breakfast for him instead.

"…alright, thank you Onii-sama!"

"OK…..see you downstairs."

When he seemed to have moved off from the other side of the door Miyuki breathed a sigh of relief.

Then a pang of sadness washed over her.

 _"Is that how Onii-sama saw it all? Did he have to go through that? My poor Onii-sama."_

Miyuki tried to put the memory of that awful nightmare behind her as she rose from the bed and wiped the tears from her checks.

 _"I will do all I can to make today better for Onii-sama."_

She said this to the reflection in the mirror as she combed her hair and tried to apply a false mask smile to her face.

 _"For his sake….and Honami-chan's"_

* * *

Tatsuya and Miyuki headed for the battle site a few kilometers away on their rental bikes; but when they got to the entrance to the villa property compound the guards posted by Major Kazama insisted that they leave the bikes with them and be driven by a patrol to the site instead.

The patrol unit wanted to wait for the siblings to return, but Tatsuya insisted it was more important they continue to patrol the villa area so that they could be ensured their mother was well guarded. Once he told them that he would call them for pickup, they seemed satisfied and returned to their patrol duties.

Miyuki solemnly carried the bio-degradable container that held Homani's remains with both hands to her chest as she followed Tatsuya down towards the sand dunes that led to the battle site.

They were so quiet walking the sandy path that Miyuki could hear her sandals when they made contact with the sand. Despite trying, she couldn't hear Tatsuya's footsteps at all.

Above them the bright blue sky had only a few stratus clouds high above and over the horizon. The mid-morning sun warmed the back of Miyuki's neck and coated everything she saw about her in the lightest shades of golden light.

The wind blew her hair and sundress lightly as they walked in silence. Overhead a few seabirds made their calls, but not enough to drown out the sounds of wind and surf.

Dune grasses bent to the wind's command as the sea appeared past the top of the last dune. The waves were normal looking but they weren't breaking hard and the whitecaps only formed within a few meters of the shore.

There was no apparent evidence that just the day before this had been the site Miyuki watched on the screens in fear. Where her Onii-sama, defended by Honami's last and greatest effort, defeated the enemy with his awesome powers.

The ride to this place had shown her all the damage and battle scars of the previous day; yet here, where the greatest moment of the day had occurred, it was as if peace was all this place had ever known.

Miyuki had failed to realize that the Tsunami her Onii-sama's magic created had washed away the evidence of battle from this site, and that the spot where he fought the enemy from was now fifty meters off shore and covered by the East China Sea.

Somewhere inside her she questioned if this was the right place. It seemed familiar, but different to her, She was confused by this since she never had seen this place herself in person, but only via remote cameras.

"It's a truly perfect day, is it not Miyuki?"

Tatsuya turned then and smiled down at her. Of all the beautiful things surrounding them, nothing was as beautiful as her precious Onii-sama's smile, his kind eyes, and the wind pushing his hair about.

She smiled up reflexively to him.

"It is a beautiful day Onii-sama. A day for Honami-chan."

She hugged the container even harder to her chest, as her Onii-sama ran his fingers over her wind-swept hair.

"Whenever you are ready Miyuki."

She took in a deep breath of sea air and released it as she opened her eyes. There before her, surround by the beach and the water and the sky, was Onii-sama and his unwavering smile.

 _"So strong and brave."_

She nodded and they moved forward.

Tatsuya took off his backpack and shoes just out for range of the waves and Miyuki sat her sandals beside them. Then they walked into the waves together till it reached their knees.

He turned to look at her and then nodded that it was time.

Miyuki swallowed hard and felt tears moisten her eyes.

"Honami-chan…..who loved us so. I…I….."

Tears flowed freely now as she choked on her words. Then Tatsuya's strong right arm surrounded her shoulders and pulled her into him.

"…we commend the remains of Sakurai Honami-san, faithful servant and friend, to the oceans from which all life sprang forth. In the hopes that her loyal and loving spirit may find eternal peace and rest, and in the hope that one day we will be reunited with her spirit again."

She smiled up at his words, then found her own tongue again.

"We can never repay you for the love, devotion, and affection you have shown us. For the lessons you taught us, or the care you provided us. You were more to us than a servant ever could be, or a friend could ever hope to be. To us, you were…..a true Onee-chan….you were…"

Miyuki choked up on her words again. Tatsuya faithfully stepped in again for her.

"…..family."

Miyuki smiled again up to him through tears.

"….yes, family."

Tatsuya gently turned Miyuki so that the wind was behind them, and would blow the ashes away from them. He then lifted the lid off the container Miyuki held and let the bio-degradable lid fall onto the waves at their feet.

He then held one side of the container with his left hand as Miyuki supported the bottom with both her hands, and together they stretched it out before them.

As they titled it the wind caught the first ashes and carried them aloft and away.

Seeing this Miyuki began to sob and dip as if she would fall, but Tatsuya held her upright and supported her.

Slowly they tilted the container and more of Honami's remains took to the sky. Miyuki fought to contain her tears in Tatsuya's embrace.

Within seconds the last of Honami's remains slid out of the container and into the early morning August wind.

Tatsuya took the now empty bio-degradable container from Miyuki and lightly set it into the sea to be dissolved.

He then surrounded Miyuki with both his arms and she buried her head into his chest.

Miyuki didn't know afterwards how long he had let her cry into him as the cool waves lapped around their legs.

All she would remember later was the waves, the sky, the wind, Onii-sama's loving arms,...and Honami.

* * *

Once they were ready they stepped out of the waves and towards the spot where their shoes and the backpack rested. Tatsuya took out a beach blanket and spread it out. Once they were both situated on it Miyuki took out a thermos of tea and two cups. Filling both, she offered Tatsuya one and waited patiently for him to sip it before trying her own.

"Delicious Miyuki."

His genuine smile accompanied his words, and Miyuki allowed herself to sip her own tea in satisfaction then.

Next she removed the bento box that Honami had prepared early the day before.

Once she sat it on the blanket she looked down on it with sadness and sighed heavily.

Tatsuya's right hand stroked her head lightly then.

"We can't let her efforts for us go to waste."

Miyuki smiled back at him and took the lid off the box.

She had "conveniently" forgotten to pack two sets of chopsticks, so Onii-sama had to rely on her to feed him. This of course made her very happy.

They took their time, allowing the wind, the sea birds, and the waves to fill their ears with the sounds of nature.

They both were particularly reverent with their final pieces. After she swallowed her piece Miyuki had to wipe a few tears from her eyes.

They sat there together in comfortable silence watching the waves slowly go out with the tide.

It indeed was a beautiful day. Miyuki knew Honami would have loved it too.

After at least thirty minutes of contemplative silence, Tatsuya was the first to speak again.

"I have not forgotten the request you made yesterday."

Miyuki turned perplexed eyes toward him. She had apparently forgotten making any request of him. She watched him intently as he opened a side pocket of the backpack.

He pulled out one of his handkerchiefs, which looked to be wrapped around something.

Sudden realization flooded Miyuki's mind…..and she began to cry.

Tatsuya offered her the rolled handkerchief with both hands, and she took it from him reverently with both hands.

"I waited to give it to you today because I wanted to tie the cut end into a decent looking knot."

Miyuki listened to her Onii-sama as she sat the handkerchief in her lap and tenderly unrolled it.

She then began to cry even more.

"It's…..it's beautiful."

In her lap, on the handkerchief, sat Honami's distinctive hair braid. Tatsuya had collected it, by Miyuki's request, before he had supervised Honami's cremation.

The braid was just as Honami had made it, with her hair-bow holding the end where she herself had placed it with her own fingers. The only difference was the cut end had been made into a decorative knot in the shape of a heart.

Miyuki, seeing the knot, looked up through her tears in amazement at her Onii-sama.

"…when….how?"

He held her with his right arm as he replied.

"I did it last night after you had gone to bed."

"But….after all your hard work….you still….OH ONII-SAMA!"

Clutching Honami's braid between them, Miyuki sobbed uncontrollably into her Onii-sama's chest as her wrapped his arms around her. The sounds of the sea never allowed her cries to go further than her own ears, or her Onii-sama's.

Once Miyuki had let her emotions pour forth to her satisfaction she helped Tatsuya pack their belongings up. She very carefully placed Honami's wrapped hair braid into Tatsuya's backpack for transport.

"Can we walk down the beach a little?"

Tatsuya nodded with a sympathetic smile towards her.

"If it pleases you, of course."

They walked for several hundred meters along the beach with their shoes in their hands and the waves lapping at their feet.

Then Miyuki suddenly looked back towards the dunes, at a break in them that indicated a path back to the road network that had brought them here.

Tatsuya's eyes followed her gaze with an interested look, and then something on his face changed slightly. Miyuki thought he seemed to recognize the area from that look.

And for some reason she couldn't explain, she too felt that this path through the dune was familiar too. She felt drawn to it for what seemed no particular reason at all.

"Onii-sama, lets head back that way."

He turned a somewhat concerned look to her.

"If…..that is what you wish."

Seeing his discomfort, she responded.

"If you don't think it best, we can….."

"No!"

His voice was surprisingly raised then. It was more like how he had acted yesterday than her normal Onii-sama.

"I mean, that's fine, if you want."

She was concerned for him then, but the curious pull she felt to head that way made her think she had to see what it was that bothered them both so much.

She nodded and they headed that way, stopping to put their shoes back on once they reached the dune.

There was a slight uphill slope to the path, and the dunes behind that first dune were surprisingly deep.

They walked through dunes for at least several minutes. Tatsuya once again leading the way. To Miyuki he seemed to be in full Guardian mode now, searching about for threats as if they had entered hostile territory.

"Onii-sama, is there something….."

He turned those watchful eyes towards her, but seeing her own concern he mollified his expression with a kind smile.

"…..oh, no Miyuki, I'm sure we're perfectly safe here."

She forced a smile onto her face in reply and they continued onward and upward. She willfully suppressed her desire to probe him further with questions.

 _"If we're safe, why is Onii-sama so tense?"_

Then she realized he wasn't the only one.

 _"Why am I so tense?"_

She knew it wasn't all a sympathetic response to his apparent nervousness. She too felt that this place was too familiar to her, and it had set her on edge.

 _"But why do I feel I have to get to the end of this path so much?"_

They walked on tepidly, both very alert, as if they were entering some dark forest full of frightful creatures and spirits.

 _"Mother would surely chide me for having such juvenile thoughts at my age."_

Still, there was some fear in Miyuki's heart that she couldn't explain, but not enough fear to stop their forward progress.

And there certainly wasn't anything in Onii-sama's heart that would stop him. He was seemingly as determined to reach their unknown goal as she.

Suddenly he stopped in front of her and looked upwards. Her own eyes followed his line-of-sight. Before them was a small hill. Nothing too impressive, only several meters high; yet tall enough to let some trees grow on its small slopes where nothing else so large could grow in the area.

"Can we go there Onii-sama?"

He turned with a surprised look at Miyuki's request, then he turned back as if to scan the hill again with his eyes. Miyuki wondered if he used Elemental Sight to examine the hill and its surroundings.

After a few more moments, he replied.

"It seems safe enough."

She still felt he was reluctant to go for some reason. She slipped her left hand into his right one. He smiled back at her and they approached the hill together.

The walk up the hill wasn't difficult, but Tatsuya stopped once when he noticed something in the ground of the path before them.

Looking down herself Miyuki could see where a tire track had pushed the light coating of sand aside and dug a little into the harder dirt below it. Her guess was that it was some type of motorcycle or dirt bike.

Nearer the top of the hill, her speculation was confirmed.

"They forgot it….."

Her Onii-sama was looking at a dirt bike in the tall grasses beside the path up the hill. He let go of her hand then and they both approached it. He didn't seem surprised in the least to find it here. Miyuki assumed he had seen it with his special vision.

"We can take it back to them, if you don't mind?"

He was holding two helmets that had been lying beside the bike. From the colors of the bike and the helmets, Miyuki assumed it was Self Defense Forces property.

Normally, Miyuki would have been slightly afraid to ride a motor bike. She had never ridden one before. Yet she was confident in her Onii-sama to know he would never take risks with her safety, so in truth she was looking forward to it.

 _"I can hold him as we ride."_

That thought filled her with delight.

"That will be great Onii-sama!"

Instead of the smile from him she was expecting, her Onii-sama was looking past her now. She turned to see what he was looking at.

The hill wasn't very high, but since it was near a beach it didn't need to be high to have a commanding view. Miyuki could see the dunes they walked past on their way here and the beach they had come up before that. She could see the spot where they had lunched earlier further down the beach, and the place where they said their final goodbye to Honami.

And she could see further inland towards the areas where Tatsuya and the Self Defense Forces had pushed the invaders back to the seas from which they had came. The relatively pristine beaches and dunes made a sharp contrast with the signs of combat only slightly more inland.

Then her eyes were drawn back to the hill itself. They were near the top but not the very top. A few tress grew on the sparse slopes, but surprising none were visible at the very top.

Then Tatsuya began to move the few meters left to reach the flat top of the hill.

"…..Onii-sama?"

He kept walking slowly towards the top, her voice didn't seem to reach him. She followed him up there. He stopped and was looking down at something with surprise on his face.

Right before she reached the top she felt like she passed through a wall of energy.

 _"No, that's not right."_

Instead it was a mild wall of psions.

 _"Someone cast magic on this spot?"_

She knew magic barriers when she felt them.

"Onii-sama, what was…"

And then she stopped her words.

"A magic barrier. If I had to guess it was placed here on Major Kazama's orders. It seems to be some type of illusion magic to hide…this."

Miyuki looked down at where Tatsuya was looking as he spoke.

There before them, occupying the entire top of the small hill, was a great circular ditch.

"Onii-sama, what…what caused this?"

She saw at a few places along the outside boarder of the ditch where it came back up to normal ground level, the remains of the trees that must have occupied the top of the hill. Where the remaining stumps met the outside edge of the ditch the trees were shaved in two, perfectly aligned with the side of the ditch. It was as if the same great force that created the ditch had cut the trees at the same time. No evidence of the missing parts of the trees could be seen.

And there was the faint hint of psions around the edges of the ditch.

"…..was it magic?"

Tatsuya, in a stupor, hesitated before answering. Confusion shown on his face.

"It had to be…but, I can't see it."

He was perplexed and disturbed. Miyuki rushed to his side then.

"What do you mean Onii-sama?"

He looked at her with confusion showing on his face. It wasn't a normal look for him to say the least.

"I was here….."

He looked around the ditch again.

"….this is where…."

He looked up at the sky as if searching for a memory.

"….I let her go."

Miyuki was confused now too.

"….Honami-chan?"

He turned at the mention of Honami, and then sadly nodded to Miyuki. Then he pointed to the center of the circular shaped ditch, to the only part that was still at the same height as the surrounding hill top.

The real shape of the ditch was like half of a torus shape had been dug out around a central piece. A doughnut shape around the hole of the doughnut.

"I tried to use Regrowth on her, several times."

He said this with a despondent look on his face as he pointed to the raised high ground. Then he shook his head as if to clear his mind.

"…..it didn't work, but I didn't want to stop. I couldn't….I couldn't….."

"…let her go."

Miyuki said these words as if she had been there witnessing the struggle he went through here just the day before. He looked back at her with surprise.

"…..Please, Tatsuya, won't you let me go?"

Miyuki felt like she was in a trance as she said these words. Tatsuya on the other hand seemed stunned by them.

"…Miyuki…..how?"

She shook her own head suddenly as the trance seemed to end.

"….I…I don't…"

He pulled her into him tighter.

"It's not important Miyuki."

His words were meant to comfort her; but she knew these words had meaning, and she knew she shouldn't know them.

"I can feel psions Onii-sama, this was created by magic, powerful and lingering magic."

He nodded pensively to her words as they stared at the ditch.

"Yes….these are my psions….I made this…..thing."

Miyuki knew he was right. After experiencing Regrowth with him yesterday she could feel the same unique markers of his magic as its remnants radiated around them.

"…but…."

Miyuki looked up at him then to see the confusion still on his face.

"…I….I don't…..remember this."

He was bewildered over it.

"And…I can't look back at it with my vision."

He shook his head again.

"When I look back….I see me, and her, and there is no ditch…but…"

This genuinely was disturbing him.

"but then…then this is here…no sign of me making it, no sign I used any other magic but Regrowth….no nothing. I….I don't…"

He had raised his hands up to hold the sides of his head. He seemed to be experiencing pain. She reached up to put her hands on the outside of his. He looked at her in confusion.

"…where did it go? I don't…I….."

"Onii-sama, please. Let's leave this place now, please."

She knew he couldn't stay here any longer….and she was pretty sure she knew what was causing his confusion.

 _"So this is what you did to your son, mother?"_

Miyuki could feel that the magic Tatsuya had used to make this great torus shaped ditch had been Decomposition; and by the sheer volume of the random and lingering amounts of his own psions still drifting about it, Miyuki knew it hadn't been a controlled release of magic.

 _"Onii-sama made this thing in...anger?"_

Where he had been, over Honami's body, was the epicenter of what appears to have been a torrent of Decomposition phenomenon created by an uncontrolled magic release. Everything around him, dirt, rock, sand, and trees had apparently been consumed in the rolling and rotation torrent.

She held him to her as they passed through the illusion barrier.

 _"Sanada and Kazama where here too, they had to have witnessed it. This must be here because they don't want anyone else to see or feel this. They might have even almost been consumed by it as well."_

Miyuki sat Tatsuya down beside the dirt bike and pulled out a water bottle for him from the pack still on his back. As he gathered his wits again, she looked back up the hill with concern in her eyes.

Once he was recovered, Tatsuya seemed to forget entirely about what was just a few steps up the hill from them.

"It's late Miyuki. Mother will be worried about you. We should head back."

He said this as he held one of the helmets in front of him. Miyuki allowed him to put it on her head and strap the chin down. Then he fixed his own helmet as she took the backpack from him, mounted the bike and started it. Miyuki got on behind him and per his instructions wrapped her arms tight around him.

Then they took off down the hill and through the remaining dunes until they found the main beach road.

Miyuki looked behind them as they sped down the road. She could see the small hill retreating in the distance. It was clear why they had retreated there with the threat of an approaching Tsumani wave. It was the only high ground around.

 _"He remembers parts of yesterday here, but not others?"_

She tightened her grip around his torso as the wind caught more of her hair from under the helmet.

 _"That has to be mother's doing, but why would she take his memories?"_

She looked away toward the beach beside their road.

 _"It had to be because those memories were attached to strong emotions."_

She looked over his shoulder to the road ahead.

 _"Emotions so strong, even remembering them could turn him into…."_

She looked at the back of his helmet with sad eyes.

 _"I won't let that happen to you Onii-sama."_

She pushed these thoughts out of her mind willfully, determined to enjoy her very first bike ride.

 _"…with Onii-sama."_

* * *

 _Author's Notes:_

 _I decided this would be a good point to add some of my own comments. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Thanks for reading and posting your comments. I appreciate constructive criticism as well as praise, so keep the comments coming._

 _I chose this story because I feel it had great potential for revealing info and insights into the siblings and their history._

 _Some of you have asked why Tatsuya seems so emotional in my story. Please bear with me, I will have insights on this coming up in the story._

 _I hope I'm not ruining the story for you guys by telling you this already; but much like George Lucas has said that Star Wars was really the story of Darth Vader, Aftermath is the story of Miya. I feel there is so much about Miya that has yet to be revealed and that her motivations were so deeply rooted it has to be fleshed out. I think Satou will reveal more to us in the official story eventually, but I had to go there myself._

 _Well that's all I have to say for now. Thanks again for reading my stories._

 _The Baryon Lancer._


	7. Chapter 7: Loneliness

When they returned to the villa they turned the dirt bike over to the sentries from the Self Defense Forces. Miyuki had wished Tatsuya would have kept it for at least the next few days since she enjoyed the ride, especially the seating arrangement. It would have been nice to take another ride or two before departing. She could tell it was a lot of fun, but on this ride her thoughts unfortunately drifted to more serious things. A ride when her mind was clearer would have surely been even more enjoyable.

They found their mother in the villa reading an actual hardback book on the couch.

Miyuki immediately suggested that they go to the beach for the rest of the afternoon and asked Tatsuya to help her put on her sunscreen with a bright glow of anticipation in her eyes, but their mother interjected to do so instead.

Now Miyuki sat in front of Miya as she applied way too much sunscreen to her. To say this was not what Miyuki had had in her mind would be an understatement. Miya had dismissed Tatsuya to change and prepare the equipment, so it was the two Shiba women alone together. The pout on Miyuki's face told the whole story of how she felt about that.

"Was it….pleasant?"

Miya's sudden question broke Miyuki's brooding.

"…..huh, what was pleasant mother?"

Miya sighed lightly as she rubbed lotion with both hands in a circular fashion down Miyuki's left arm.

"The…ceremony. I assume you said a few words this morning?"

Miyuki furrowed her brows in sudden realization.

"Oh….yes, it was very beautiful there actually. I'm glad Onii-sama insisted on going there."

The last comment was meant as a barb for Miya, but she seemed to ignore it.

"And….Tatsuya did well?"

Now Miyuki furrowed her brows in earnestness.

 _"Of course he did well, he's Onii-sama. What kind of question is that?"_

But she wisely deleted the more sarcastic parts of that thought from her reply.

"Yes, of course he did."

Miya smiled mirthlessly at that comment as she switched her work to Miyuki's right arm.

 _"This would have been more…'fun'…..had she just let Onii-sama put the sunscreen on me."_

Miyuki knew that the word 'fun' didn't quite cover the enjoyment she'd get from having Tatsuya slather and rub in the sunscreen on her body with his strong and warm hands; but she wasn't quite old enough to have the appropriate understanding of what that sensation really could be described as, so she assigned it the innocent sounding name of 'fun'. Fun was certainly a part of the idea of it in her mind, but not nearly the most important part.

"It took you two some time to get back. Did you do something else on the way home?"

Miya again intruded on Miyuki's pleasant thoughts about her Onii-sama.

"Well…we walked up the beach after eating lunch. Then we walked through the dunes and then up to a small hill. Then we….."

Miyuki hesitated here because she suddenly realized Miya might not look favorably on their dirt bike ride home.

"…...we came home."

Miyuki thought she had covered up her awkward pause well enough, but slowly the empty silence from the woman now rubbing lotion into her right leg began to creep into her mind.

Miyuki furtively looked down to where her mother was working the sunscreen into her thigh.

 _"Well say something!"_

Silence was worse than retribution in this case. The tension was building for her by the moment.

"A hill, you said?"

The silence broken, Miyuki let out a light sigh and visibly deflated.

"Um…..yes, a little one in the dunes."

"Um…and did you go to the top of that hill?"

Her mother had finished with her left leg and had turned Miyuki to face her as she asked this relatively innocent sounding question. She was now applying sunscreen to Miyuki's face and neck.

Her mother's seemingly innocuous question for some reason put Miyuki on slight alert. Something in the tone carried a bit too much interest with it.

Miyuki had the sudden feeling that Miya knew all about the hill and what was at the top. Just then mother and daughter locked eyes. Miyuki realized that any pretense they were having "small talk" was just that, pretense.

"The equipment is ready."

Into this little standoff Tatsuya strode in to rescue Miyuki.

"Oh, good! Did Onii-sama put on his sunscreen yet?"

Before waiting for the answer Miyuki had the bottle in her hand and was approaching him with a look that was somewhat frightening in its intensity, as if she intended to devour him.

"Bring that here."

Their mother's words slapped her in the back of the head. She spun around to confront her.

"I can put it on him mother, it's no problem at all."

Miya extended her hand for the sunscreen bottle. The look on her face broached no tolerance of further defiance from her daughter. Miyuki reluctantly handed over the bottle with an obvious pout.

"Go to your room and let the lotion settle into your skin. I'll send Tatsuya to you when he's ready."

Now Miyuki knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Miya wanted to separate her from Tatsuya. A frightful thought suddenly invaded her mind.

 _"She's going to use that magic again!"_

She had to act quickly.

"I don't mind waiting here mother."

The look Miya sent her daughter then could murder a weaker soul, but Miyuki was prepared to stand her ground.

 _"…..for Onii-sama."_

Then he cut her legs out from under her from behind yet again.

"I'll come get you Miyuki, I promise."

She spun again toward him, with a pitiful look on her face.

 _"I'm trying to protect you!"_

But the warm smile on his face melted her resolve.

"….I….Miyuki will….wait patiently."

He rubbed her head with a smile as she reluctantly passed him, obviously mistaking the reason behind her pouting expression.

 _"You don't understand Onii-sama!"_

She wanted to tell him this so much, but her mouth wouldn't allow her to say the words.

She walked off towards the corridor to their rooms with a final glance. Miya was looking right at her as she spoke.

"Come here Tatsuya."

She squirted some sunscreen in her hands and rubbed them together.

Miyuki retreated down the hallway and left her bedroom door cracked to try to hear.

Nothing reached her, but still she sat anxiously waiting. One eyeball looking down the hallway. One ear searching for the sounds of struggle.

She sat in misery, worried for the fate of her mother and brother. Finally after what seemed an eternity, she mustered up her courage and charged back down the hallway.

Expecting to find them both passed out or at least delirious, instead they both looked at her with shocked expressions.

Tatsuya was squatted down in front of Miya as she rubbed the lotion into his back, shoulders, and chest.

"Is everything alright Miyuki?"

"I thought I told you to wait?"

These were the two responses she received once they recovered from her dramatic entrance.

Recovering from her own surprise, Miyuki stuttered to find an answer.

"I….I….Miyuki is fine Onii-sama. I just…..couldn't wait any longer! Let's go please!"

With his back towards their mother Tatsuya couldn't see the suspicious expression she sent her floundering daughter.

"We're almost done."

With these words Miya nodded her head towards the opposite couch and Miyuki bounded over to it.

Once seated, she was forced to watch her mother rub the last bit of sunscreen into her Onii-sama's well-defined abdomen and chest. The relief she felt at not finding them sprawled out in pain, was now replaced by slight twinges of jealousy.

 _"I could have done that instead. I should have been doing that instead."_

She fought not to pout again. Still, her relief at not finding them in pain was a great relief to her.

 _"At least she didn't use that damn magic on him again."_

Then she randomly thought that this may be the very first time their mother had ever rubbed sunscreen on Tatsuya. Such "normal" bonding tasks would have been Honami's purview had she still been alive.

Now sadness entered Miyuki's mind as she remembered a conversation just days before between herself and Honami as she had Honami vigorously rubbing sunscreen on her.

A tiny smile crossed Miyuki's face at that warm memory. A tiny glimmer of hope that one day the pain they felt for Honami's loss would turn into precious memories of what she meant to them.

As she looked up with that tiny smile she was greeted by another smile on Onii-sama's face as he looked at her with warmth.

Then she noticed that Miya was looking at Tatsuya with that exact same expression from behind him.

Miyuki felt a sudden pang of guilt at having been so angry at her mother for taking over the job of applying sunscreen to Tatsuya.

 _"This is one of the few times…she can…be a real mother to him."_

Miya suddenly locked eyes with Miyuki and any joy she felt disappeared in those cold eyes of hers. She then turned those sad eyes away to speak.

"You're covered now. You two may proceed to the beach. Don't stay out in the sun too long."

 _"Why hide your love for him from me mother? You have already confessed. What harm is there in sharing with me how much you love him?"_

Miyuki looked away sadly now too. Unable to understand why her mother would torture herself this way.

"Of course mother. Do you require anything before we leave?"

Tatsuya looked down at Miya and spoke with the precision expected of him.

Miya shook her head without taking her eyes off the glass walled porch and the beach beyond it.

"We shall return if you need anything."

Then Tatsuya dutifully turned to pick up the supplies and he and Miyuki headed outside to the beach.

Despite the warm August sun, a shiver ran up Miyuki's back as she stepped outside. The words had changed, mother now replaced madam; but it was clear to her that for her beloved Onii-sama, Miya was still just his master, and not his mother.

Miyuki despondently hung her head as she followed Tatsuya down to the sand and waves.

* * *

Despite heading down to the beach in a saddened state, Miyuki was determined to quickly recover her mood so that her Onii-sama would have a pleasant time.

Instead of a simple large parasol, this time he brought down a full sized four post open sided tent.

After setting it up and making sure the wind couldn't disturb it, they spread their belonging under its shade and both drank a full bottle of water each, on Tatsuya's insistence, to ward off possible dehydration from their exertions.

Then Miyuki dragged her only somewhat reluctant Onii-sama into the water to play.

Miyuki gently instructed Tatsuya in how she wanted to play and he dutifully tossed her about in the waves with a smile on his face as Miyuki cackled with delight.

At one point, when Miyuki did something particularly embarrassing and amusing, all her efforts at blocking the sadness and difficulties of the previous day were greatly rewarded.

Tatsuya…..laughed.

She smiled back with glee.

 _"I didn't even think he could do that!"_

This was a world all their own.

No one else was on this beach, because most people in this area were off-island vacationers.

And those people had universally decided that yesterday's violence would end their vacations immediately.

Only one person, seemingly on this entire island, refused to be driven from her vacation by some military action.

Coming out of the waves for some refreshment and relaxation, Miyuki and Tatsuya saw that woman reclining under the shade on the porch of their villa, reading her book as if nothing yesterday had ever happened.

"Mother…..is quite implacable, isn't she?"

Tatsuya said these words while staring up at their mother.

It didn't sound like praise or criticism to Miyuki's ears, and truthfully she wished it had been one or the other of those two emotions.

"She…she is a determined person. She refuses to be budged by outside forces."

Tatsuya never took his eyes off their mother as they approached their tent.

"Yes, she is certainly predictable in that way."

Perhaps he sensed Miyuki's saddened expression then, because he turned towards her and "corrected" his previous statement.

"I mean…..she's reliable."

A small smile accompanied his statement and Miyuki returned that smile.

 _"She's just some…..obstacle for you. Something to overcome."_

Miyuki remembered Honami's lesson on false masks and tried even harder to smile at Tatsuya as they sat on their towels.

 _"How could you think of her any other way?"_

Miyuki continued to force a smile as Tatsuya handed her a snack and some water.

 _"She forcibly made you see her that way."_

Miyuki fought her sadness down again as they sat there silently snacking and drinking.

After finishing her snack she laid on her tummy and let the sounds of the sea relax her mind. Every few minutes she would crack an eyelid to see Tatsuya sitting beside her and scanning the horizon.

"My vigilant sentinel."

He turned a playful smirk towards her when she said this.

Eventually Miyuki sat back up and joined Tatsuya in scanning the view.

After a few minutes Miyuki decided to conduct her test, if for nothing else than to relieve her own mind.

"Still a beautiful day, but I thought that the beach this morning was even prettier than this one."

Tatsuya nodded at her words as he continued looking outward.

"It was beautiful there."

Miyuki looked sideways at him.

"I especially liked the view from the hill, do you remember the hill from this morning?"

She braced herself for any response he might give her.

"Indeed, you could see the whole shoreline from up there."

Relief seeped into her then, relaxing all her muscles.

 _"He remembers…"_

She looked away and smiled now.

"It's too bad we didn't go to the top of the hill. Might have had an even better view inland. I would have liked to have reviewed the damage from the battle."

And with that statement the bottom dropped out from under Miyuki. Concerned eyes returned to her Onii-sama then.

"The….top?"

He nodded while still not looking at her.

"Yes, though it looked pretty barren up there. I suppose the sea winds treat it like the beaches below and only trees can grow on the slopes. The wind not hitting the slopes all the time because the body of the hill protects it from all but a direct wind."

She was glad he was looking away from her then and couldn't see her attempts to hide the despondency on her face.

"Yeah…the wind."

Tatsuya nodded with her words.

"Of course once we found Honami's dirt bike we had to return it to the SDF immediately."

"Of course…Onii-sama."

She had a more difficult time enjoying their second sea frolicking session after that. It was hard to drive the thoughts of that magic their mother used on Tatsuya from her mind. The pain she saw Miya endure the day before was unnatural to say the least. Miyuki was certain it was bad for both of them.

 _"And she's used it again!"_

She thought this as she occasionally directed a furtive gaze towards the porch of their villa.

 _"To make him forget about the hilltop and the ditch he made with magic."_

The frail but beautiful woman still sat there reading her book under the shade.

 _"How often does she use this magic on him?"_

She had a pretty good idea of how that magic took away Tatsuya's "pain" now.

 _"But why does it cause YOU pain in return?"_

Her intuition told her she would hate the answer to that question.

 _"What does using that magic cost you mother?"_

Miyuki feared the answer to that question intensely. Every fiber of her being told her the price to use that magic was way too high for her mother to pay.

 _"Except…..for something she loves more than herself?"_

Miyuki now knew the only thing that would make her mother self-inflict such pain on herself.

 _"Except….for her children's sake?"_

The sun and the waves, and even playing happily with her beloved Onii-sama, seemed significantly less enjoyable than before.

* * *

They packed up everything but the tent, since Tatsuya was certain there was no one around to disturb it before they came back out tomorrow, and headed back inside to rest before dinner.

Miya still sat on the porch and once he spoke with her, Tatsuya told Miyuki that their mother was fine and that she should rest up before preparing dinner.

Miyuki showered off the sunscreen, sand, and sea water; and then laid on top of her bed to pursue her data terminal.

She knew Tatsuya had headed back out to perform his own security sweep of the area and to talk to the military sentries and patrols.

Miyuki began to dutifully search the network for info on magics that removed pain and memories from the mind. As she sadly suspected beforehand, there wasn't much out there to be seen on the topic. Only the most widely used and publically known magics had significant info online about them, and even then it was just theories and vagueness.

Nations and their magicians guarded magic knowledge better than their national treasuries. Something as obscure and dangerous as a mental interference magic to alter the mind wouldn't turn up anything beyond conspiracy theory websites. Miyuki began to suspect that she already had significantly more knowledge on mental interference magics than multiples of the entire world-wide network combined.

In frustration she turned off her terminal and rolled on her back to stare at the ceiling.

 _"How can I help them if I don't understand?"_

With that thought still rolling through her mind she fell into involuntary sleep. Without the adrenaline from yesterday to fuel her onwards, her own mild activities today had sapped away her already depleted energy reserves.

In her dreams she saw her Onii-sama playing with her at the beach interspersed with memories of her early life and Honami's part in it.

Yet the last thing she dreamed about before waking was the disturbing nightmare from that morning.

"Won't you let me go?"

The enemy ships exploding in the fireball of Material Burst.

"I CAN'T LET YOU GO!"

"…Onii-sama?"

The hilltop engulfed in Decomposition as Kazama and Sanada pulled back from it.

"She loves you more than you can ever know."

Psions radiating wildly from Tatsuya as tears poured from his eyes and a scream erupted from him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The barrel of the rifle lifting towards the ships.

"For Miyuki's sake alone."

"…Onii-sama?"

Honami laying on the ground with tears flowing from her eyes, but a smile on her face. Her hand reaching up.

"YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT LOVES ME!"

"…Onii-sama?"

Tatsuya raging in the torrent of Decomposition again.

"You are the most important person in the world."

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"…Onii-sama?"

He couldn't hear her desperate calls to him.

"Won't you let me go?"

Terror streaked the tear stained eyes of her Onii-sama.

"WHY WON'T THIS WORK? I CAN'T LET YOU DIE!"

"She loves you more than you can ever know."

"I CAN'T LET YOU GO!"

"To die for your sake is the honor of my life."

Tatsuya releasing his rage in the torrent of Decomposition.

"YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT LOVES ME!"

"For Miyuki's sake, alone."

"…Onii-sama?"

Material Burst filled the horizon as the blast and sonic boom buffet her.

"Won't you let me go?"

"HONAMI! PLEASE DON'T DIE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"Won't you let me go?"

"You're the only one that loves me….."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! THAT'S NOT TRUE! I LOVE YOU! I DO!"

Miyuki sat bolt upright on her bed screaming these words to the empty bedroom. Ragged breaths fighting to go in and out of her pounding chest. Her heart felt as if it would crack her ribs and sternum in an attempt to free itself from her body. Tears flowed uncontrolled from her eyes as she fought to regain her sense of consciousness.

Then a primal fear burst forth from her in a scream.

"…..ONII!"

And through her door burst the brand new hero of her life. The one from whose hand her very life flowed and to whom all of her devotion and love flowed back alone.

"MIYUKI?"

As he flung himself through her doorway she flung herself off the bed towards him, her arms reaching in desperation for him.

"SAMA!..."

In the next second he caught her in mid-air in his arms and wrapped himself around her.

Face buried in his chest her emotions flowed forth unchecked.

"I LOVE YOU ONII-SAMA! PLEASE BELIEVE ME, I DO! I will never abandon Onii-sama! I will always be by Onii-sama's side! I LOVE YOU ONII-SAMA! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!"

As she screamed this to him he took turns scanning the room for threats and looking down at her in concern. Finally satisfied there was nothing in the room to endanger her, Tatsuya turned to comfort his desperate imouto's raging heart.

"It was just a nightmare Miyuki, I have you now everything is fine. I will protect you."

"NO! NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! MIYUKI WILL PROTECT ONII-SAMA! MIYUKI WILL KEEP ONII-SAMA SAFE. MIYUKI LOVES YOU ONII-SAMA! PLEASE BELIEVE ME!"

He squeezed her tightly into him and whispered to her ear as stroked her head.

"I know Miyuki. I love you too."

A wail escaped her trembling body as her fears flowed out of her with his words.

"Please, Onii-sama, again."

"I know you love me Miyuki, I love you too."

Tears of fear were instantly replaced by tears of joy.

"What in the world is all this?"

Miya stood over them with a suspicious look on her face, directed at her daughter as she huddled inside of Tatsuya's arms on the floor.

"Miyuki had a nightmare, but she is fine now."

The first half of his statement was directed toward their mother, the second half directed as a hidden question to Miyuki, who nodded in reply.

Miya sighed heavily then, half frustrated and half relieved.

"Well, get yourself ready Miyuki. See to it."

The second half of Miya's words were directed to Tatsuya. Then Miya slowly returned to the living room.

"Get ready…to cook?"

Miyuki, regaining some of her composure, asked Tatsuya in confusion as he helped her to her feet, still holding her in his arms.

He looked somewhat uncomfortable as he spoke.

"Oba-ue has arranged a call with us, in fifteen minutes."

Miyuki took in a sharp breath as memories of her mother's tense phone conversation with Hayama from yesterday flooded her memories.

"…all of us?"

Tatsuya somewhat reluctantly nodded back to her.

* * *

Fourteen minutes later, Miyuki, seemingly fully recovered from her episode only minutes before, entered the living room in her best sundress, her luxurious long dark hair resplendently braided and laying across her right shoulder.

She took a seat beside her mother on the couch as they exchanged questioning looks. Once seated, Miya spoke to her.

"Better now?"

Miyuki, somewhat embarrassedly, nodded.

"Sorry about earlier."

Miya smiled reassuringly to her then, before leaning in to whisper to her.

"Well he certainly knows how much you love him now."

Miyuki flushed with additional embarrassment, but Miya's words seemed more teasing and playful than the usual chastisement Miyuki expected from her when discussing Tatsuya.

From a place next to the wall monitor Tatsuya spoke to them.

"The main residence is ready to connect the call."

He was wearing the same summer suit he had worn to Kuroba-oji-sama's dinner party a few nights before.

Miyuki heard Miya's jaw pop as she tensed her facial muscles.

"Let's get this….over with."

Tatsuya nodded and pushed a few more buttons, then a ten second countdown appeared in the bottom left corner of the otherwise dark screen in front of them.

To Miyuki and Tatsuya's mutual surprise, Miya used a hand gesture to indicate that Tatsuya should stand behind them. It was a position that Honami, as Miya's Guardian, had often occupied during video calls to the main residence, but to Miyuki's knowledge Tatsuya had never been on a video call to the main residence before, at least not with mother and her.

Tatsuya moved quickly and postured himself behind the couch and between the two ladies. His hands clasped behind his back as Honami would have stood.

At that moment the countdown ended and another image appeared on the screen.

At first glance you might have thought the screen had gone to mirror mode.

There was her mother's face, staring back at her across the screen.

But certainly not her mother, because this face instantly sent a shiver down Miyuki's spine.

Shiba Miya usually wore her hair straight along the sides and tied up in back in a relatively simple style. She dressed very conservatively in the somewhat dated "New-Victorian" style that had been popular when she was a teenager, with high necked collars that never exposed a hint of her ample cleavage or porcelain skin beneath her chin. She was so skinny you had to wonder if she was malnourished, yet the dignity and grace of her appearance and speech instantly dispelled such misconceptions. Shiba Miya was a woman best described as beautiful and refined, almost ethereal.

The similarities between her mother and the woman with her mother's face on the other side of the screen ended at that face. Flowing curled locks of luxurious hair flowed around that face. The dark red dress she wore was also in the New-Victorian style, but much less "Victorian" and much more "New". With her ample bosom pushing out of the dress's blouse opening, no one could doubt that this woman was anything close to malnourished. Had she been standing, the tight fitting dress would have provided more evidence, hugging and accentuating her well curved hips and buttocks in alluring fashion. This woman was best described as seductive and enthralling. With an "equal" face she was equally beautiful, but there was nothing ethereal about her. The words tempting and dangerous best described this woman's beauty, and a lot more about her personality as well.

But there was one more similarity between these identical twins.

 _"…those eyes."_

Empty and cold, like her sister's; but where Miya's cold and empty eyes inspired thoughts of sadness and loneliness, this woman's eyes inspired pure fear and dread.

And those cold dark eyes instantly locked onto something behind Miya and Miyuki.

 _"…..Onii-sama."_

Miyuki fought the urge to turn to see if her precious Onii-sama was bothered by those terrible eyes.

This terrifying stare belonged to the world renowned and feared Demon Lady of the Far East, also called The Queen of Night or The Midnight Queen. The undisputed ruler of the most mysterious and feared collection of magicians in the world. Even the far-famed USNA's elite magic Special Forces unit, STARS, didn't inspire the same awe and fear as The Family that Destroyed a Nation.

The Yotsuba.

And the leader of that feared family.

YOTSUBA MAYA.

And then Miyuki watched as those cold eyes turned warm and a seductive smile laced those lips. Her eyes never left Tatsuya.

She was clearly delighted to lay her eyes upon him.

Miyuki had always hated the way their aunt looked at her Onii-sama, even before her new-found admiration for him had developed.

It was similar to the look General Saeki had directed towards him the day before; but where the General just wanted to use her Onii-sama, their aunt had a love of possession gleaming in her eyes.

Like she owned him.

Like she "wanted" him as her own.

Miyuki fought a sneer down from crossing her face at this thought.

"Ara, ara! I hear from Hayama-san that our Tatsuya-kun has been a naughty boy."

And the same voice as her mother's, but very much also not the same voice. Miya would never speaking in this constantly flippant fashion.

She smiled mischievously with a squint at Tatsuya. It was as if she was trying to tease him with her chiding.

"I hope you have punished him appropriately for vexing your poor mother so, Miyuki-san."

Those cold eyes and that fake smile bore on Miyuki then, much to her discomfort.

"Did you really call to just tease my daughter about her Guardian's actions imouto?"

The irritation in Miya's voice had the same effect on her audience as stopping music suddenly in a concert. Maya's eyes drifted to her sister then with considerably much less mirth.

"Because I am not in the mood for your usual time-wasting effusions."

Miya was the only person who ever dared to speak to Maya in this condescending fashion. Miyuki remembered her thoughts from the day before, of these two "titans" of magic going toe-to-toe in battle. Another shiver ran down her spine.

Then the cold gaze of Maya towards her sister softened and an indulgent smile crossed her lips.

"I can see that Onee-san is still stressed out from yesterday's unpleasantness. You would have felt better at home, had you taken my offer to bring you back immediately."

The sharp glint and cold stare Miya had worn since the screen came on was still there.

"Neither of us would have felt better had I come home yesterday imouto."

Maya laughed lightly at this.

"Ara, ara, Onee-san! And they say you have no sense of humor!"

The only one amused in this situation was Maya. Miyuki certainly wasn't having a good time.

Suddenly Maya redirected her gaze back to Tatsuya.

"I have reviewed Tatsuya's report on the incident to Hayama-san, and while I clearly have some issues with going to the extreme of using Material Burst; I am satisfied that Tatsuya only did what he felt was necessary to protect you both."

Miyuki was relieved to hear this. She was painfully aware that if Maya had her doubts about the need for Material Burst to be used, then there could be serious consequences for all of them, especially Tatsuya.

"I do have some questions for you though."

Miyuki's relief vanished with those words. Maya's eyes and mouth took on a hard line.

"Did you evaluate the possibility of using Decomposition on the enemy ships or their components?"

Tatsuya didn't hesitate.

"Unfortunately I am still limited to the range of approximately ten kilometers for the usage of Decomposition. By the point where the ships would have been within that range, they would have been able to bombard the base for several minutes, or potentially never enter my Decomposition range at all while still attacking the base unmolested."

Without losing the cold glint in her eyes, Maya smirked some at that answer.

"Unfortunate indeed, and it would have drawn similar interest from the SDF either way I suppose. Still, we would have kept Material Burst hidden in our back pocket a while longer….oh well, a shame."

Then the gaze turned completely cold again.

"Still, Onee-san's own research indicates you have the potential to propagate Decomposition to a much farther range."

"With age and further training. We have already discussed the limitations that youth imposes on juvenile magicians ad nausea imouto."

In her response, Miya didn't bother to hide her irritation. Maya sighed dramatically in response.

"Yes, that is true….."

But another cold gaze fell on Tatsuya.

"…yet they were safe in a bunker under several hundred meters of earth, steel, and reinforced concrete. You still chose to use Material Burst to eliminate the enemy despite their relative safety still being…."

"Onii-sama did what he felt was necessary to protect mother and me! I have no doubt that Onii-sama evaluated all the possible solutions and came to the rational conclusion that using Material Burst was the only…..realistic…option."

Miyuki, in her defense of her precious Onii-sama, had bolted upright from the couch and proclaimed her defense of him with vigor. Near the end of her statement she began to lose steam under the amazed gazes of three sets of stunned eyes.

 _"…..oh no! What have I done?"_

Realization that she had rudely interrupted the Demon Lady of the East had begun to set in. Maya stared at her with those cold eyes boring into her. Another set of cold eyes fell on her from her right side.

"Did….ONII-SAMA…..indeed?"

Maya's surprised expression drifted from Miyuki to Tatsuya as she spoke. Miyuki bowed deeply then.

"Please…..um…forgive my rudeness….."

But that tiny little voice that had been pushing her boldness forward all week wouldn't let her just fold up and sink back to the couch.

"…but…"

Maya's eyes went back to her niece and grew even wider in surprise as Miyuki continued her bold declaration.

"…I have no doubt that Onii-sama…..acted in mother and my best interests and…with the best judgment possible….speaking as his Primary….and his imouto…..Onii-sama has my FULL confidence…..in all things."

She turned slightly and directed a warm smile back over her shoulder to a concerned looking Tatsuya, who weakly smiled back to her. Then she turned back and bowed lightly to Maya before sitting back down. The rebuking sideways glace of her mother felt as if Miya was poking her with a sharpened stick.

Across the monitor screen Maya still looked at her with a cold but dumbfounded expression, which she then turned again on Tatsuya and finally to her own sister.

Then glee unexpectedly crossed her face and a conspiratorial glint entered her eyes as she smirked at her obviously unhappy twin sister.

"ARA, ARA, ARA! It seems our quiet little Miyuki-san has finally found something she feels….VERY PASSIONATELY…about."

That teasing smirk drifted over to Miyuki as she spoke.

"With such a ringing endorsement of confidence from his Primary….how can we possibly doubt…."

Now that smirk returned to the very unhappy Miya.

"….O…NII-SA…..MA's judgment in the matter?"

Miyuki couldn't understand why Maya seemed amused by this situation. In her judgment she should be receiving a two sided bombardment of reproach from the twin sisters now. Instead, her mother looked back at her obviously amused twin on the monitor as if it were Maya who was misbehaving and not Miyuki.

"Pardon the interruption Oba-ue, but I would like to elaborate further to prevent any misunderstandings."

Tatsuya spoke up behind them. Maya twisted her lips up in the corner of her mouth before nodding at him.

"As I first reported from the sailing incident a few days ago, it is still my belief that Miyuki and mother were the primary targets of what was undoubtedly a kidnapping attempt."

Maya directed another stunned yet amused glance at her uncomfortable looking sister when Tatsuya called her "mother". Miya herself winced slightly at his choice of title for her, but quickly recovered to return the previously cold gaze back on her sister.

Miyuki was somewhat surprised by his words, since it slightly conflicted with the previous theories she had heard behind why the submarine had targeted their sailing cruiser.

"I believe that the intention of the attack was not only to steal magic related information from the Onna Airborne base, and to isolate and eliminate a significant portion of our nation's military magicians while they were on this island and far away from additional support from the mainland; but also to capture or eliminate very high value magic targets, specifically two mental interference magicians."

"We…were the reason?"

Miyuki looked back up at her brother in shock. He tried to reassure her with a sympathetic look. Then Miya reached her left hand across to reassuringly squeeze Miyuki's right hand.

Maya looked slightly off screen as if seriously pondering Tatsuya's words in her mind.

"This matches General Saeki's assessment of the situation as well."

"So you have already met with her?"

Miya's irritation was evident with her tone. Her sister directed a cold gaze back at her.

"She visited this morning. We conferenced in Major Kazama from the island."

Maya then looked away again to ponder further. After a few moments silence she put those cold eyes on Tatsuya again.

"The Major and his unit went there as bait. They suspected an issue inside the SDF. That someone on the inside was leaking combat magician movements and deployments to people who didn't need to know."

Miyuki was stunned, and she was about to be stunned further.

"Which of course matches your own assessment of the situation from the submarine incident report."

Miyuki stared up wide-eyed at her Onii-sama as he lightly bowed back to Maya.

"They knew that having a good portion of our nation's combat magicians in an exposed location and with the information they carried as well, it would be too tempting a target for a nation with a lack of magical powers to simply ignore."

Miya spoke up next.

"The Great Asian Alliance, obviously."

Maya replied casually.

"Of course, though it will never be made 'public' that it was them. The spineless politicians aren't ready for open war with the continent just yet."

The tone both women used indicated on this topic they found rare agreement. Both showed distaste for the dictatorial nation-state on the other side of the East China Sea.

Maya redirected to Tatsuya then.

"The Left-Bloods rebelling was a total surprise to the SDF though. That situation must have only been fostered within the last week or two. It's possible some form of hypnosis magic was used to develop that level of animosity to the point of open rebellion so quickly. They won't know more until they examine and interrogate the prisoners. We have offered our assistance in that task."

Then she directed an incredulous look towards Tatsuya.

"Still, considering…..YOUR MOTHER….and Miyuki-san's relatively safe position within the bunker, you still felt using Material Burst was warranted?"

Tatsuya nodded with no hesitation.

"Under the assumption that Miyuki and mother were the targets of either kidnapping or elimination; I had no viable alternative than to prevent further enemy forces from attacking or invading this island. Under the conditions as they were at that time, to allow the enemy further access to them was an unacceptable risk, per my standing orders as a Guardian. Material Burst was the only option available to me at that time to accomplish the goal of safeguarding their lives without significant risk of failure."

Miyuki looked on in awe as Tatsuya, unbent by the intimidating and cold gaze of Maya, stood with supreme confidence, his determined eyes never wavering.

"And you didn't consider once that hiding your unusual abilities, which you are aware are considered top secret classified information by us, warranted any additional reasonable risks on the parts of your Primary and her mother?"

Tatsuya shook his head and replied with confidence. His expression almost seemed to indicate he thought the question asked of him was stupid.

"There is no compromising where Miyuki's safety is concerned. All of my abilities, no matter their level of classification or the results of their exposure, are to be used to insure Miyuki's safety. That is my only priority as her Guardian."

Miyuki couldn't help but smile and feel safe. In her heart, hearing his emphatic proclamation made her melt with love for him. She couldn't be bothered to hide the joyous smile on her face now.

"That is indeed your charge as her Guardian."

And then a light smile and a flippant look swept Maya's coldness off her face.

"Well, we always knew they find out about him someday….."

Then she once again bore those cold eyes into him.

"Still, even if there is a leak in the SDF; assuming your assumption is correct, how do you propose the GAA identified you as Yotsuba or significant magicians to target?"

Tatsuya didn't wavier as he answered.

"Mother has a relatively famous face, your face, Oba-ue."

Miyuki blinked at Tatsuya in mild amazement.

"Something as simple as a facial recognition software hack into any public area closed circuit viewing system could explain how mother was identified. Since they clearly had planned the attack for some time, it's only natural that they would put additional surveillance in place beforehand. Once they confirmed her identity, then obviously underage children in her company would be assumed as her children and also made targets."

Maya smirked back at this.

"So you're saying that they just got lucky and found you by chance?"

Tatsuya had only the slightest curve to his lip as he replied.

"I wouldn't say by chance Oba-ue. Clearly they had something already in place on Okinawa to look for known magicians. They clearly knew the Major and his unit were here. The only other plausible alternative is that there is a leak within the Family."

Maya scoffed at that suggestion.

"As if anyone associated with us would dare."

Tatsuya nodded his agreement.

"Once we were identified we immediately became primary targets. Without doubt some of the intelligence on the Family that the GAA inherited from Dahan would be of enough inducement to risk our capture or elimination."

Then he stunned Miyuki again.

"The two spies Honami and I eliminated two nights ago clearly had advanced surveillance equipment on them. The kind of equipment that is only available from nation-level entities. Plus their skill level indicated Special Forces training. Since no other potential targets in the area warranted that kind of effort, we were clearly the target of their surveillance."

Miyuki was the only one surprised by this news. Neither Miya nor Maya showed any discomfort with his words.

Maya had another pondering look on her face.

"Yes….that was Mitsugu-san's assessment as well. He has already begun clean-up of the remnants of these people. We'll soon have the whole picture of what happened."

Mention of the fact that the Kuroba were involved meant that Maya was fully invested in getting to the bottom of how this attack was allowed to happen.

"I did warn you against going there, did I not Onee-san?"

Miya directed an irritated gaze back to her sister.

"And you also said Mitsugu had cleared the area for us, clearly he failed that simple task."

Maya only smiled back at her.

"Well, his attention was focused on likely threats. A full scale invasion by the GAA military simply couldn't have been anticipated. Those people are so reckless."

Miya seemed unimpressed.

"But the SDF knew enough to set a trap for them? Are we slipping some these days?"

Miya's criticism was intentional. No one in the Family would have been happy to learn that the Yotsuba didn't know something happening within the SDF.

"The SDF didn't anticipate a full scale invasion either, only a small incursion. The scale of the event was beyond their very realistic expectations. And General Saeki's little group is a surprisingly close-knit and tight-lipped unit. Our sources indicate the SDF higher-ups didn't know anything about her attempts to entice a response. A total surprise for everyone it seems."

"I'm aware of that. I have familiarized myself with her and Major Kazama's history. Neither is what you would call a 'friend' to the Ten Master Clans or the SDF High Command. So you're saying Saeki and Kazama planned this trap without approval from the government or SDF leadership?"

Maya laughed a little before answering.

"Well, if you're asking me if they moved the training to Okinawa to tempt their mole out of hiding or to get his confederates to expose themselves then the answer is yes. Clearly they also didn't expect a full scale invasion either, no one did. It was an insane and outrageous act."

Hearing this, Miyuki couldn't help but feel resentment towards Saeki and Kazama. Their actions were directly responsible for Tatsuya having to expose his true powers and worse, Honami having to die to save him. Then Miyuki also remembered that had the events of yesterday not occurred, then she would still be at least partial "blind" to all of the wonderful things her Onii-sama is to her now. To say she felt deep confusion over these conflicting thoughts would be an understatement.

"And we can assume they will suffer no penalty for this rash and reckless action?"

With these words Miyuki could tell just how much her mother didn't like General Saeki.

Maya laughed yet again.

"You mean for acquiring the bearer of the most powerful strategic class magic ever known and delivering him into the government's hands? Quite the opposite Onee-san. They now have direct access to the Prime Minister and his full support. They have become practically an independent branch of the military. Certainly the SDF mundane leaders won't have significant authority over them anymore."

Miya's face turned cold and hard. Her dead eyes now took on the feeling of pure disgust.

"Surely it's my imouto who should be rewarded by the government for handing my son over to them without any resistance."

The look Maya sent back to Miya was equally disgusted.

"Ara, I could never claim such an honor Onee-san, since it was you who took your family to that island against my recommendation in the first place. And surely it was you that let him go to smite the enemy for the SDF weaklings. If anyone should be rewarded for introducing the government to….YOUR SON….it is clearly his own…..MOTHER."

The feral and sarcastic smile of Maya versus the cold and empty glare of Miya. Miyuki could feel the tension in the air between them. The extra emphasis on the words "your son" and "mother" Maya added in was meant to tease and chastise her sister, but Miya showed no regrets in her hardened expression.

"So how much did you sell…..MY SON…to the SDF for? Or did you roll over like a trained dog for them and let them have him for nothing?"

Any mirth Maya had was instantly wiped away. Miyuki could feel the animosity and hatred between these two sisters pulsating inside her with its intensity.

After an interminable and terrifying silence had sat in, suddenly Maya broke out with a smile.

"I see my Onee-san is indeed still suffering the after effects of yesterday's stresses, so I will forgive your rudeness. As for what is now the agreed upon arrangement regarding…..YOUR SON…..he will be participating as a reserve member of a new SDF unit to be headed by the Major under Saeki's general command. The easiest description is that it will be a combined magic weapons testing and magic Special Forces unit similar to STARS."

For the first time during this conversation Miya looked genuinely surprised and stunned.

"…..you're joking."

With a serious expression and a head shake Maya responded.

"Am I known for joking about such things?"

Miya couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"…how, what's changed?"

Maya smirked at her and titled her head at Tatsuya. Miya still couldn't accept it though.

"…..they surely haven't told Sensei about him."

Miyuki knew instantly who "Sensei" was. Kudou Retsu was not only the head of the Japanese Branch of the International Magic Association, but was universally hailed as one of the greatest magicians of all time. A hero who lead Japan's magicians during the Third World War to victory. It was an accepted fact in Japan and the world at large that he was the symbolic and de facto leader of all Japanese magicians, or at least the so-called modern magicians. The so-called ancient magicians were another story. No other magician, even Maya, held the public persuasive power of the man known as "The Patriarch", or simply as "Elder".

Of course Miyuki understood enough about Ten Master Clans politics even at her young age to realize that Elder Kudou wasn't a one man show, and that the web of power and influence was more complicated than it seemed to outsiders; but Elder Kudou still held a unique power at the center of this convoluted web, all his own.

"We have no evidence that Sensei has any direct knowledge of Tatsuya, but as well connected with the government and SDF as he is he might have seen Material Burst live in action sitting beside the generals. He's the first person they'd call to consult once they knew enemy combat magicians were involved. He certainly is aware of it by now, and you know that once he has the scent, he is on the hunt."

Miya pouted slightly at Maya's words.

"To be expected of him. Still, he has always opposed an SDF-only magic military force before. The politicians and generals wouldn't dare form this unit without his approval."

Maya answered flippantly.

"Which obviously means they now have his approval."

Miya shook her head in disbelief.

"He'd only do that for one reason alone. He is assuming that the Material Burst user is already in the SDF and he thinks he can get access to that info only by cooperating."

Maya laughed wickedly in response.

"That old fox only ever opposed a separate military magic unit because of "principles" alone. I can image the look on his face when he saw Material Burst. He'd sell Makoto to a slave trader to find out who had THAT magic power, his principles be damned."

Miyuki knew Kudou Makoto was the Elder's oldest son and current head of Clan Kudou. Everyone who ever talked about him around Miyuki seemed to think Makoto managed the day-to-day affairs of the Kudou, but it was still assumed that major final decisions had to have his "retired" father's blessing.

Miya replied thoughtfully.

"So he agreed to this magic Special Forces unit to try to gain access to the Material Burst user, since obviously the user would be in or at least associated with the unit? Unfortunately I think you're right. Still, even he couldn't get this approved alone…."

Then Miya smirked at her sister's image.

"…..even with your support."

The rebuke in those words made Maya's brows furrow.

"You think HE isn't interested too? At least Sensei is partially interested due to patriotism. THAT PERSON only wishes to acquire more power for himself."

Miya looked despondent and perturbed by Maya's words. A single word name slipped past her lips.

"…..Saegusa."

Maya curled her nose up as if smelling something foul.

"The blessed Saegusa, children of the Gods, pristine and sanctified sons and daughters of Heaven. The darlings of the Japanese Magic Community."

Miya inhaled hard at her sister's sarcastic description of the Yotsuba's arch rivals within the Ten Master Clans.

"…Kouichi."

Miya seemed to deflate with the speaking of that name, but Maya became agitatedly expressive again.

"Paragon of modern magic virtue. The brave boy who sacrificed an eye in an attempt to save his useless fiancée. An example to us all."

Where it was only sarcasm before now Maya's words were laced with pure contempt for her former fiancé.

After…..Taipei….the Saegusa had publically spun the story of Maya's kidnapping to emphasis Koichi's brave attempt to save her, and how he had been gravely injured in the attempt. Koichi was portrayed as a hero to the public by the Saegusa while the Yotsuba, and specifically Maya, retreated back into the silent shadows without so much as a word about it.

This of course fit each families' preferred styles of dealing with the public, but that didn't make anyone in the Yotsuba less contemptuous of the Saegusa's egregious post-event grandstanding. Maya's rape and torture was never acknowledged publically by the Yotsuba or the rest of the Ten Master Clans, so the public perception of the event was that the boy raised with superior Saegusa Family virtues of self-sacrifice was a suffering hero who had lost his love, and the real victim of the event was practically forgotten.

And it was a perception that that same boy still fostered about himself today, only now as the head of that supremely most virtuous of modern magic families. Miyuki could understand her aunt's, the real victim, contempt for all things Saegusa, and especially all things Kouichi. Miyuki certainly didn't detect in her aunt anything that would indicate she once was deeply infatuated with that boy, as her mother had described to her the day before.

"Do you think they'd work together to achieve their mutual goal?"

Miya looked like she dreaded asking that question. Maya screwed up her face in thought.

"Who knows? It wouldn't be the first time they have worked against us together."

Miyuki could feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach now.

Maya sighed heavily before continuing.

"Still, Sensei has completely different motivations than THAT PERSON, and Sensei is aware of how THAT PERSON would use Tatsuya if he ever found out about him. I doubt Sensei would cooperate with HIM without a backup plan to thwart HIM in the end. The one principle Sensei will not compromise on is magician rights."

Miya smirked back at her sister.

"That is a two way street imouto. Our contempt for the Saegusa aside, Kouichi is no fool. We can never afford to underestimate his cunning."

Maya looked back at Miya with cold contempt on her face.

"As if I would ever take THAT PERSON lightly? We'll find the angle to pit them against each other long before they get anywhere close to the truth."

Miya's expression didn't seem to take Maya's assertion with any level of confidence.

"And we can trust our new SDF friends Saeki and Kazama to not expose Tatsuya to them?"

Maya smirked back at Miya with a gleeful look.

"I thought you said you had researched them Onee-san? Saeki and Kazama are outspoken critics within the SDF of the Ten Master Clans System. Which of course make them no friends of Sensei. As for THAT PERSON, let's just say I'm certain that the Prime Minister and General Saeki are aware of the price they'd pay for that foolish action. The friendship of the Yotsuba has more value to them than anything the Saegusa can bring to the table; and of course the loss of our friendship is even more terrifying."

Miya looked back coldly to her smiling twin.

"And once again we must rely on 'hope'. Let us 'hope' they haven't forgotten the lesson of Dahan."

Miyuki remembered her mother's words from the day before, contrasting the assurance of anonymity against the uncertainties of 'hope'. Maya just smirked back even more in response.

"If they have forgotten, they will not survive the refresher course."

Miya was still unsatisfied.

"Better to never get to that point in the first place."

"Agreed Onee-san. Conflict is not the goal."

Miya took in another deep breath before continuing.

"So…..how are we resolving Tatsuya's new priorities?"

Miyuki visibly tensed up at this, but Maya smiled reassuringly across the screen at her.

"Ara, ara, Miyuki-san! Have no concern. I made it perfectly clear that on…..ONII-SAMA…being by your side there would be no compromise. Tatsuya-kun's first loyalty is as it has always been. He is yours without question."

Miyuki couldn't help but smile brightly. She rose to her feet and bowed to Maya. Tatsuya joined her in this action.

"Thank you very much Oba-sama."

Maya simply nodded back with a smile.

"Well, at least there is that. Now that you have given us the one piece of good news, let's hear all the bad."

Maya smirked at her sister's words, but recovered quickly.

"The rest is as I'm sure you expected. The SDF, specifically Saeki's new unit, now has second priority to Tatsuya's services."

Miya smirked mirthlessly at that.

"So….he is to be their weapon?"

Maya looked at her sister incredulously.

"What would you have had me do, declare civil war against our native land? You know as well as I do that they would never allow a known strategic class magician to not be under their control in some form. We should be thankful for the deal I was able to craft together out of your mess."

Miya sent a deathly cold gaze back to the screen.

"How low we have fallen. Father and Uncle would have never been bullied by the government in this way."

Maya visibly clenched her jaw in anger at this stinging rebuke. Then suddenly her expression went strangely placid.

"Well father is dead, and so is Oji-sama. I'm the best you have Onee-san. Or would you have preferred if I had stepped back and let you try to negotiate with them alone?"

Miyuki was having a hard time reading the odd expressions these two sisters were sending each other now. The atmosphere was strangely more intimidating than when they were clearly angry at each other.

Miya broke the tension with another question.

"What's the time length of this agreement?"

Maya answered as if the previous tension had never existed.

"It's perpetual, however either side can request a good-faith renegotiation at any time. To ensure Miyuki is his first priority we gave the SDF second priority. Family work is third, however, neither side is privy to the details of his work for the other, well, at least not from his lips anyway."

Maya laughed lightly then as Miya smirked back mirthlessly to her little pun. Miyuki understood well that the Yotsuba had numerous sources everywhere, including in the SDF, from which they could monitor Tatsuya's activities for the SDF without him having to violate his oath of office.

"Tatsuya will of course take the SDF officer's loyalty oath once Saeki and Kazama set up their new magic unit. Tatsuya will report to Major Kazama directly, and should the command structure or stated function of this new unit change, they understand that we will immediate renegotiate the terms of his service. He cannot be transferred to any other unit, and he will not accept commands not issued from Saeki and Kazama without my express consent."

Never once did Maya or his mother ask Tatsuya if he was alright with this arrangement. This drove home to Miyuki that Tatsuya's status within the Family was no better than it had been before. She turned concerned eyes back to him, but he only looked on with his hands still calmly clenched behind his back and a placid look still on his face. Seeing her concerned expression he smiled reassuringly to her.

But the weight of her Onii-sama's burdens on her heart could not be relieved by even his warm smile alone.

Miya sighed lightly then.

"Well, I suppose that's not…terrible."

Maya dramatically patted her chest and showed a stunned expression.

"You mean….my precious Onee-chan isn't completely disappointed in her errant imouto?"

Miya smirked back mirthlessly at Maya's play acting.

"Not….completely."

Maya smirked back at this biting response.

"High praise indeed for the Mistress of Lethe."

Then Maya turned serious again.

"Now, about your Guardian situation…."

"I have already discussed this with Hayama-san. I do not want or need a replacement Guardian. As I have stated before Tatsuya is more than adequate to protect Miyuki and me; and since Honami's loss has been particularly hard on Miyuki I have no intention to exposing her to additional potential hardships when she is already well protected herself."

Maya sighed heavily then and frowned somewhat. Miyuki was well aware that the Yotsuba's Guardian Program had been initiated as a direct response to Maya's kidnapping. As such it only made sense that she herself was a proponent of it.

Maya turned her eyes again to Tatsuya.

"With a light towards your additional duties with the SDF Tatsuya-kun, do you have any objections to taking on the additional responsibility of protecting your mother? You may speak freely."

Miyuki was stunned that the head of the Yotsuba was asking a "servant's" opinion on their service, even if he was a blood relative.

"Please let me clarify the position Oba-ue. Where would protecting mother fall in my priority list?"

Maya turned a questioning glance to her sister then.

"Miyuki is your top priority. If you are forced to make a choice between us you will always protect Miyuki first. Understood?"

Miyuki looked on terrified as her mother basically told her brother to let her die to save Miyuki.

"Understood."

Tatsuya's unflinching agreement with those words only amplified Miyuki's discomfort.

Maya weighed in as well.

"I have no objection to that arrangement, but…..YOUR MOTHER'S protection comes before SDF related activities."

With a nod Tatsuya replied.

"Of course."

Then he adjusted his posture slightly to continue.

"While I do not wish to suggest in any way that Honami's protection of mother was unnecessary, I do believe I can maintain a similar level of protection for mother under the conditions specified. I cannot however replicate the service portions of Honami's service to either Miyuki or mother at her excellent level of proficiency."

"I believe I speak for Miyuki when I say that we are not concerned with the service portion of your duties at any level. Your protection abilities far make up for any lack in the other area."

After confirming visually with Miyuki's emphatic nod, Miya continued.

"Miyuki and I don't mind a little work if it means we are so well protected."

Miyuki turned her emphatic nod towards the screen then.

"Ara! Very well, but I do reserve the right to deploy additional "temporary" protection to your household should I judge specific conditions warrant it. After all, you're my closest family members, and Tatsuya-kun is about to become a significantly busier young man. At the end of the day I, as family head, am responsible for your protection."

Miya didn't reply, which everyone else took as her reluctant agreement.

"Well…..I'm satisfied for now. Seeing you all well and safe is truly gratifying enough."

Maya directed a warm gaze at Miyuki, with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"I am depending on you Miyuki-san to take good care of….ONII-SAMA…and his MOTHER."

Miyuki nodded, but she never got the chance to verbally reply.

Miya's expression went deathly cold again.

"Aren't you forgetting something imouto?"

Maya looked on in confusion and suspicion. When it was clear she didn't know what Miya was talking about, her sister elaborated.

"You owe me an apology."

Maya stopped just short of laughing at that suggestion.

"You can't seriously expect me to apologize for pulling you out of this fire you created yourself by letting him go off to fight, can you Onee-san?"

Miya's cold stare never wavered.

"That's not what I want an apology for imouto. That was my decision and it was and still is the correct one."

Now Maya redirected a perplexed and agitated look to the cold-eyed Miya.

"As you have pointed out several times in this conversation, Tatsuya is…MY SON."

Miyuki felt special emphasis behind Miya's declaration that Tatsuya was her son. Normally it would have brought her delight, but somehow Miyuki felt see was missing something important behind her mother's strong verbal inflections.

Miya started staring daggers at her sister then, who returned that gaze in kind.

"You made decisions for MY SON without once consulting ME, HIS MOTHER. Not being a mother yourself….."

Miyuki fought hard not to show fear, applying her newly learned false mask with all her might. Across the screen, the Demon Woman of the East looked like she was about to explode. Maya's face went red and her eyes looked like she wanted to kill her own sister. Miya, in reply, remained as placidly cold and unforgiving as a full on blizzard. Miyuki didn't think her own magic could make the room any colder than her mother's demeanor and words had. Summer, just outside the doors and windows, seemed like a distant memory suddenly.

"….you can't possibly understand the complete and utter breach of my rights that you committed. You even refused to speak to me when General Saeki mentioned I was right there. Not a single word from you, my own sister, when my own family's position was on the line and in your hands."

Miya looked back to her practically "boiling" twin sister as if she herself was a mountain, unmovable and unyielding.

"To decide…MY SON'S…destiny without HIS MOTHER'S consent? To interject yourself between me and MY CHILD without a word to me. I simply don't feel I can possibly forgive that breach without an apology imouto. No….MOTHER…could possibly bear such indignity."

Again Miya was applying considerable weight in her wording to her relationship with Tatsuya. Miyuki was stunned and confused by her sudden need to emphasis the obvious with her own sister.

And across the screen Maya seethed in obvious anger as her sister stared back at her with utter contempt.

And then, to Miyuki's dumbfounded surprise, Maya's anger vanished instantly and a smile crossed her lips.

 _"What in the….how?"_

"Well, I certainly hope my Onee-san realizes that my actions yesterday weren't an attempt to offend her…MOTHERLY sensibilities. I hope she understands the pressures I was under to help her rectify the situation she found herself in."

 _"It's like…..she flipped an emotional switch?"_

"Time was of the essence and I did have a lot of phone calls to make on your behalf, both before and after I spoke to the General."

 _"How can…..anyone switch so quickly?"_

"However, I admit I was wrong, I should have consulted you about the situation first. I do hope you realize that despite this mistake I did try to get the best possible resolution to your situation for us all."

 _"Is she even the same person who was so angry just moments ago?"_

"So Onee-san, I sincerely apologize. I was wrong to not consult you first. I humbly ask your forgiveness."

And then to Miyuki's continued amazement, Maya bowed slightly to her sister.

"I of course realize the situation you were in imouto, and I do appreciate the lengths you went to for our sakes."

Miyuki turned stunned eyes to her suddenly smiling mother then.

 _"What in the world is all this?"_

"Imouto's heartfelt apology is all I need. Of course I forgive you, consider all this water under the bridge."

Miyuki's stunned eyes turned back to a radiantly smiling Maya.

"Oh thank goodness! I couldn't bear to think my Onee-san and I would be crossed with each other for too long."

 _"I….I don't…how?"_

It was all too quick and sudden for Miyuki to comprehend. How could such a contentious verbal battle brewing before her eyes dissipate so quickly and seemingly unnaturally?

"Well, now that that's settled, please contact Hayama-san if you change your mind about departing earlier."

"Of course, but we'll stay on our original schedule. Please inform me once Mitsugu's people have ensured that we'll have no problems being tracked at Naha airport or when we get home."

"Of course Onee-san, Mitsugu should have everything arranged so you can depart discreetly in two days."

"That sets my mind at ease imouto."

"Perhaps when you all get back, after you're rested up, the three of you will come up for a visit? It will be nice to have my Onee-san home again and with HER CHILDREN too."

"We'll of course try, but school will be in session again shortly once we get back. It might have to wait for the New Year break."

"I understand, do try though, and don't hesitate to contact Hayama-san for anything."

"Of course."

Miyuki couldn't believe how quickly everything had changed. She felt like she was somewhere else entirely now with two women she barely recognized.

"Well then, ta-ta Onee-san. Miyuki-chan, take good care of ONII-SAMA and your MOTHER for us."

Miyuki bowed dutifully towards Maya and when her head came back up the screen was blank. She turned immediately to get Tatsuya's reactions and inputs; but he was leaning in towards their mother with concerned eyes.

"Mother, can I get you a water, or some tea?"

With his concerned words Miyuki turned her own concerned eyes towards Miya, who had her eyes closed and was breathing rapidly, too rapidly.

"….Momma…what's…."

"Miyuki."

Tatsuya emphatically calling her name drew her immediate attention.

"Would you please get mother some water and a cold cloth for her head?"

Miyuki nodded and went into the kitchen with speed. She quickly had the wetted cloth and water bottle in hand. Then she spun around at words coming from behind her.

"Mother, you shouldn't….."

"I'm fine…..Tatsuya."

She came towards them quickly as her brother went to their mother's side to support her as she weakly stood up.

"I'll be…..fine…."

Miyuki let out a sudden and sharp noise then as she watched her mother's eyes roll to the top and her body collapse backwards.

Tatsuya, despite being a little less than a head shorter than their mother effortlessly caught her body and lifted her in his powerful arms.

"Miyuki, bring that stuff to her bedroom please."

He then turned, their mother effortlessly cradled in his arms, to take her towards her room. Miyuki quickly followed.

Once in the room Tatsuya indicated with his eyes for Miyuki to pull her bedding down, which she quickly did. He then gently laid her own her back and straightened the pillow under her head.

Miyuki couldn't help but feel relief when she again saw their mother's chest heaving upward, and less rapidly than before, but still with too much effort.

Tatsuya took the cold cloth Miyuki had in her hand and laid it across Miya's brow.

"What….what happened? Why did she….."

From his side and slightly behind him Miyuki could see that Tatsuya was trying to avoid her looking at his face.

"…Miyuki….."

Their mother weakly reached her left hand to Miyuki who grabbed it desperately with both of hers.

"Momma…are you?"

"I'm fine….dear, just a little….tired. Too much….stress these last…..two days."

Despite the reassuring words Miyuki didn't believe her. Something inside Miyuki screamed in her mind that her mother was lying to her.

"Momma!"

Tears flowed from Miyuki's eyes unchecked now. Miya used her hand to wipe them away gently from her daughter's face.

"Darling….don't cry….your aunt…just has that….effect on me."

Miyuki looked at her mother's face through her tears.

"Momma…..please…."

"Miyuki."

Tatsuya still wouldn't look directly at her. This multiplied her fear.

"Mother needs to rest. I will watch her diligently till she recovers."

"….Onii-sama?"

"Dear….."

Miya called to her again.

"…..you need to start…..dinner now….I've been looking…..forward to….seeing what you…..can do…..in the kitchen."

Each word seemed as if she had to force it out between her ragged breaths.

"But you…"

"I'm in…Tatsuya's care…..I'll be fine dear…I promise."

Miya managed a weak smile then for her troubled little girl.

"Please Miyuki, let's let mother rest."

Tatsuya said this from behind her, with his hands gently on her shoulders.

"I'll…be up soon…..promise….."

Miyuki nodded to her mother's reassurances, but that didn't mean her heart could believe them.

Tatsuya gently guided her towards the doorway. At the threshold she rounded on him, but he threw his arms around her before she could look at his face.

 _"Why won't he look me in the eyes?"_

"I'll take good care of her and we'll be out soon."

He then pulled back and finally looked her in the eyes. Seeing her tears he took out his handkerchief and wiped her face gently.

"Do not worry. If it was something serious that required me to use Regrowth, I would have done so by now."

He managed a smile towards her, and she nodded meekly in reply. Then he stroked her hair.

"We'll be out soon, promise."

And then he closed the door. Miyuki sat there facing the door for a few moments afterwards.

 _"He didn't lie to me….."_

But sadness filled her heart.

 _"…..but he didn't tell me the truth either."_

A few more tears slipped from her eyes as she finally turned towards the kitchen to begin tonight's meal prep.

 _"…momma."_

In her heart Miyuki now knew what she had suspected for a long time. There was something wrong with their mother.


	8. Chapter 8: Hope

The relief Miyuki felt when she saw Tatsuya guiding their mother to the dinner table a little under an hour later was enough to make her go a bit weak, but she quickly recovered and began serving her meal to them. Miya and Tatsuya both praised her efforts, but Miyuki thought they were just being kind. She felt her food lacked flavor and wondered what Honami did differently to make it taste better.

To say culinary concerns were not the primary focus of her mind at this dinner would be an understatement.

Miya's breathing was back to normal and she was once again acting like her normal self, but none of that brought Miyuki any real comfort. When she asked her mother if she was feeling well, she got the expected short and affirmative answer. Any attempt to probe deeper into the matter resulted in nothing more than reassuring platitudes. She finally gave up when she realized that neither of her table companions planned to discuss it with her. She thought that if she could get Tatsuya alone again he might tell her more.

Miyuki, having surrendered on one front, tried to redirect the topic to their aunt's call earlier; but Miya instantly shut that attempt down with a scornful look. Miyuki didn't want to stress her mother out further, especially when she was still recovering.

Tatsuya, obviously supporting their mother's topic redirection preferences, attempted to engage Miyuki in conversation about their upcoming return to school. They had only had one semester of their first year in middle school under their belt so far. They had switched to a private middle school where none of their elementary school acquaintances attended on Hayama's, in other words Maya's, suggestion. This was mostly to help protect their secret identities, five years with the same classmates was deemed too much risk of exposure due to over familiarity.

There was also another reason to move schools completely. Tatsuya's superb academic skills were drawing too much attention to him from the faculty and staff at the elementary school. A completely different middle school unaffiliated with their previous school should take slightly longer for him to come to the attention of the faculty, but Miyuki suspected it wouldn't take them long to discover his extraordinary academic talents weren't receiving the normally expected parental encouragement.

Miyuki judged that the real problem wasn't Tatsuya's amazing academic scores, but their parents' odd refusal to allow him to participate in advanced courses and extracurricular activities, while their slightly less studious daughter received their unrestricted encouragement to do so.

 _"Well of course they'll think it's odd to treat us differently."_

Miyuki, until this week, had never really thought about how odd most people would perceive their parents' radically different treatment of them being. Now she felt foolish for never realizing how oblivious she had been…about everything. It wasn't as if Tatsurou and Miya treated Tatsuya poorly in front of school staff, since that would have drawn considerable unwanted attention. They simply perplexed the faculty in not wanting to advance their superlative son while doing the opposite for their daughter.

They both gave the weak answer that they didn't want their two children to get too far apart in academics since they were in the same grade, but the extra stuff Miyuki got to do would obviously propel her far past her held-back brother had they been equally capable. Miyuki never got the impression from their teachers that they believed any of this. On more than one occasion a sympathetic teacher would grant Tatsuya access to more advanced materials despite their parents' wishes otherwise.

Miyuki suddenly wondered to herself why she had never reported on the teachers for that kind of breach to their parents.

 _"It's not like the 'old' me to keep that a secret, was it?"_

Maybe she always had secretly felt bad for her Onii-sama?

Since Japan didn't have magic elementary or middle schools Miyuki and Tatsuya attended school with no other known magicians, and didn't advertise their special abilities. It had already been determined that both would apply and be accepted at the prestigious National Magic University Affiliated First High School in Hachioji. It was not only considered the best of the nine magic high schools in the country, but also happened to be the closest to their home. It was a relatively easy commute for them as well.

In a little more than two and a half years they would both apply and test for entrance to the school and be accepted. This was no wishful speculation on her part, the Family would ensure it came about that way.

Miyuki already knew that she was top in her age group for magic ability in the world. Barring something terrible happening, she would easily be accepted.

Tatsuya on the other hand was terrible at the magic skills examined in the magic high schools' entrance exams, but she knew that no matter how poorly he did on the exam, he'd still get in. He was her Guardian and wherever she went he would go, so it would all be arranged behind the scenes.

 _"But he can do so much else and so well! Stupid entrance tests just are poorly designed for his particular abilities. Maybe, he'll let me help him so he can get in on his own merits?"_

She smiled brightly at him, which he returned awkwardly back to her as they finished their meals.

 _"We'll get you in despite their stupid tests! And without 'Family' help too!"_

Dinner finished and Tatsuya helped their mother to the tea table near the patio door. Miyuki manually cleaned up the dishes, more to kill time and settle her mind than anything else. Tatsuya quickly came to help her but she shooed him off. Then to their mutual surprise Miyuki brought her mother and Tatsuya tea, and joined them at the table.

Sunset was fast approaching. The sun was getting low on the ocean horizon.

"Oh! Onii-sama, can we go down to the beach and watch it sink beneath the sea?"

Miya and Tatsuya both smiled at her, but she suddenly realized her mistake. They both frowned with confusion at her sudden head hanging and saddened expression.

"Forgive me mother, we will of course stay here with you."

Miya's face went from confusion to frustration. She turned away with an unsatisfied look as she spoke.

"I'm not an invalid Miyuki. I'm certainly not so weak that my twelve year old daughter has to stop having fun to take care of me."

Miyuki wasn't trying to insult their mother, but she wasn't comfortable leaving her alone after what she witnessed today.

"But…what if…that happens again? I may be useless, but I cannot take Onii-sama from your side under those circumstances."

Both Tatsuya and Miya looked at her sympathetically again.

"You certainly are not useless dear, and I appreciate your concern for me; but this is our vacation and I will not have it marred further by a little tiredness on my part."

Miyuki was about to refute her mother but a palm raise stopped her in her tracks. Then Miya and Tatsuya exchanged an unreadable glance.

"Since you now know about Elemental Sight, you must realize that there is no place from which Tatsuya cannot watch over us both with ease."

Miyuki displayed an "oh" face. She had indeed forgotten about her Onii-sama's wondrous ability.

He smiled and nodded to her in mild confirmation of their mother's assertion.

"Well…that is true…."

Again Miyuki looked doubtful though. Her mother moved to apply additional ease to her troubled daughter's mind.

"I'll sit on the porch and read while you two go sunset watching and stargazing afterwards. That way you can augment Elemental Sight with your own visual confirmation of my condition. Now go on."

* * *

A light hand wave was all it took from her to get them both moving. Soon both were walking down the beach and waiting for the magic moment the top of the sun would seem to physically move faster and drop below the liquid horizon of the East China Sea. They would turn around the second they were almost out of line of sight with their mother on the porch, and walk back the other way down the beach.

As with earlier today the place was abandoned save for them. Miyuki couldn't help but feel free with no eyes probing them save those of their mother.

"It's about to happen Miyuki."

She eagerly turned westward and grabbed his left hand in her right. Only the top part of the top half of the solar disk was visible now, then suddenly the sun seemed to move faster, and then it was gone.

"Oh!"

Miyuki always found that sight amazing. She could feel her Onii-sama's warm eyes looking down at her with a smile. He clearly got enjoyment out of her amazed reaction to what she saw. She turned happy eyes up to him.

"Wasn't it beautiful Onii-sama?"

He nodded lightly as he replied.

"Indeed it was, but not as beautiful as Miyuki."

His sudden compliment made her blush profusely as she turned away.

"Surely…..it was much more beautiful than Miyuki."

He shook his head at her contrite words.

"There is nothing in this world that will ever be as beautiful as Miyuki, especially when she smiles."

She had to turn away again in embarrassment.

"…..O-NI-SA-MA, stop picking on Miyuki so!"

He laughed lightly at her awkwardness.

"Miyuki has a face that would melt the cold heart of even the most implacable of gods."

A sudden pang of sadness struck Miyuki's happy heart with these words. She looked back at Tatsuya's warm smile with what she hoped was an unreadable expression. Their mother's admonish flowed into her mind again.

 _"The worst thing you can tell a God, is that he is a God."_

She instantly threw her arms around her brother, who gently wrapped his left arm around her. She hoped he couldn't sense her worry for him through their embrace.

They watched the western seas as the orange sky and tinted clouds faded to increasingly darker shades of blue. After several moments they returned to just hand holding.

"I miss Honami-chan so much already."

Tatsuya turned concerned eyes back to Miyuki, clearly expecting to see sadness and tears. While her eyes were moist, her smile was still radiant as ever.

"I'm glad mother said she didn't want another Guardian. No one could ever replace her."

Tatsuya solemnly nodded back to her as he commented.

"It would be…awkward."

Miyuki smiled even brighter at him as she replied.

"And Onii-sama is all the protection we'll ever need!"

He smiled back at her, but the joy of that expression never reached his eyes. Miyuki found it hard to believe that someone as amazing as him could ever doubt himself. She silently admonished her mother for that, and vowed to work on his self-confidence issues.

"I can never repay her for what she has given me."

Tatsuya turned questioning eyes toward her.

"She cared for me, and taught me. She protected me, and comforted me. She was like a sister to me, and for that I can never repay her."

Tatsuya nodded in agreement.

"…..but….."

Then his eyes returned to her in curiosity.

"…..even though that alone would have been more than enough, she gave me even more."

His eyes widened at her assertion.

"Because all of the wonderful care and love she gave to me, she also gave unfettered to my beloved Onii-sama!"

Tears now flowed from her happy eyes.

"….Miyuki?"

She gently covered his mouth with her palm as she continued.

"She cared for YOU, and taught YOU. She protected YOU, and comforted YOU. She was like a sister to YOU too, and for that I truly can never repay her. I was blind before this week. I was a fool!"

He couldn't contain his concern for her now.

"Miyuki, you were not a fool…."

"YES, Miyuki was a great and stupid fool Onii-sama! Miyuki was blind! My Onii-sama is the most amazing person in the world!"

Tatsuya turned away in embarrassment.

"Miyuki, that certainly is not…"

She stopped him by using her hand to guide his chin and gently return his eyes to her.

"YOU most certainly ARE Onii-sama!"

She could feel her earnest and honest feelings flowing out of her and into him.

"You are truly amazing and Miyuki allowed jealous and fearful adults to determine for her how she should feel about her own brother! She was stupid and she will have to work very, very hard to at least try to make up for how horrible she was to her precious Onii-sama!"

He reached out to hold her forearms to comfort her.

"Miyuki, none of that was your fault."

"No Onii-sama! Ignorance is no excuse! Miyuki knew she was terrible to Onii-sama and she still acted poorly, she is truly repentant for her foolishness! She will make it up to you, this she swears!"

He hugged her to comfort her but she pushed away from him after a moment so that she could look him in the eyes again.

"But Honami-chan never wavered in her devotion to Onii-sama! She welcomed you as one of us on the first day! She treated you fairly and always looked after you! She was your REAL sister while I was an undeserving selfish brat!"

"Miyuki…..please. I don't feel that way about you. I never have."

She smiled brightly through her tears at him.

"Because you ARE truly amazing. Miyuki certainly doesn't deserve your love and understanding."

He shook his head emphatically at that.

"That's not true Miyuki."

But she gently covered his mouth with her fingers again.

"And for that, Miyuki is truly grateful to you for your patience with her Onii-sama; and she swears to be the imouto that is worthy of her Onii-sama from now on. Honami-chan stood in for me, even when I didn't deserve it, and I have learned from her example to mend my errant ways."

She reached up and grabbed him just below the shoulders.

"I can never repay her for being the sister to you that I should have been, but there is one more thing I am truly grateful to her for."

Tatsuya reached up and cupped Miyuki's elbows in his hands.

"She gave her life, for MY ONII-SAMA!"

Tears flowed from her eyes unchecked now.

He pulled her into him and she cried profusely into his chest. A tiny whisper barely reached his ears from her lips.

"She gave me a second chance."

He squeezed her tightly as she shivered in the ocean breeze, her hair whipping around their heads.

"She gave me back….my…Onii-sama."

* * *

After the sunset they sat on a beach blanket and looked up at the stars next to the tent they had put out earlier that day.

The dark blue sky retreated westward followed by purple and violet until finally dark night revealed even the faintest of stars. Like the previous night, no artificial lights obstructed the perfect heavens. The Milky Way stretched across the horizon unfettered.

Tatsuya would occasionally direct her attention to the stars and planets without need to look them up on a device. Miyuki reveled in his knowledge and attention. He explained the meaning behind the name of each constellation and which stars made them up.

Miyuki spent as much time staring lovingly at the darkened profile of her Onii-sama as she did at the night sky. The tide gently rolled in, but her feet never got wet despite the water coming just centimeters away. Had her Onii-sama perfectly measured their location up the sand to make sure of this? She had no doubt he had studied the tide charts with dutiful attention to detail.

On occasion she would direct a furtive glaze behind them, to the darkened porch where she knew a frail and beautiful woman was watching them. Each time her Onii-sama would smoothly say to her the following.

"I still have my 'eyes' on mother."

Each time she'd smile and return to watching him and the sky as they explored the heavens together.

Except for Tatsuya's words next to her, the sounds of winds and waves protected Miyuki's ears from far more distant sounds, just as the darkened world protected her eyes from other sights.

If not for those distractions then Miyuki might have heard the sobs and seen the tears that flowed from the eyes of that frail and beautiful woman back on the porch as she watched her two children; and wished she had done everything differently a long time ago. Neither could know the pain in her heart as she ripped herself apart for how she had failed the people she loved the most, especially these two.

Only one other person on this beach could "see" and "hear" that woman's anguish. He had no intention to ever mention that to either of these two women that were his closest relatives.

Though he thought to himself that surely one of them had to know he was watching her.

* * *

Miyuki held her Onii-sama's hand as they left the beach and returned to the villa.

Miyuki had elected, in the perfect atmosphere they had shared together on the beach, not to ruin the mood by probing Tatsuya for answers to their mother's weakened condition. She had judged that that could wait till a less "perfect" moment.

Once inside they found Miya had also relocated to the interior, her paperback book in her left hand.

"Did you enjoy yourself?"

Miyuki smiled and nodded.

"Yes mother, WE did."

Miya was at no loss as to why her daughter had emphasized the plural noun in her statement. To Miyuki's surprise Miya turned gentle eyes and words towards her brother.

"Well Tatsuya, did you also enjoy yourself?"

Tatsuya was momentarily surprised to have been asked, but per his way, he recovered quickly.

"It was….very pleasant."

A typically simple and concise answer, with no superfluous details. Miya and Tatsuya both seemed satisfied by that, but Miyuki felt the need to embellish more.

"Onii-sama showed me the constellations and explained the origins of their names to me. He pointed out the significant stars and planets as well. He told me all about the Milky Way and how we all move through the heavens."

She then turned an adoring smile to her slightly embarrassed brother.

"He's an excellent teacher, and very smart as well."

"I see…."

Miya was smirking at Miyuki's statement a bit, but then she shocked both her children.

"Tatsuya certainly does not disappoint."

It took both of them a minute to process what they had just heard. Both looked towards her expecting her to add on something like "…in that way", but no conditional phrase ever came.

Miyuki and Tatsuya exchanged surprised glances. Neither could believe that their mother had so unconditionally praised the son that up till this week she had barely acknowledged was alive. For her part Miya went right back to looking at her book as if she'd done nothing odd at all.

Miyuki suddenly felt a warmth growing in her chest. She had learned this week that their mother secretly loved her son intensely, but also learned why she felt it was vital for her to treat him indifferently.

To hear unfettered praise for her Onii-sama from their mother in his very presence nearly drove her to happy tears again. She raised her hands together and clutched her chest with a radiant smile beaming forth.

It was the exact opposite reaction from the object of that praise. He looked on their mother with grave concern. Miyuki thought that he was just confused since he wasn't used to Miya's praise.

"Madam, are you still feeling alright?"

Miyuki instantly reproached him gently for lapsing back into the old terminology.

"Mother, Onii-sama!"

He nodded his contrition towards her.

"Yes, of course…..mother, do you need anything?"

The concern still radiated from him.

Miya seemed as if she had just heard a strange noise. She looked at her children, with their diametrically opposite expressions, and realized something was amiss. Then sudden realization that she had "slipped" spread across her face. She quickly turned back to her book with mild irritation showing.

"No, I'm perfectly fine."

Her tone was less than friendly, but Miyuki could see her awkwardness showing in her eyes.

"Are you certain mother?"

Tatsuya was still concerned. Miyuki wondered if he was seeing something in Elemental Sight that was troubling him. She also started to grow concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Miya affected disinterest again, as if nothing odd had ever happened. Then she suddenly looked at her daughter with an irritated glance, which only made Miyuki smile even more. Miya turned from her gaze with even more irritation showing, which only served to please Miyuki further.

 _"I see the real you momma!"_

Miyuki couldn't help but be happy.

Then a sudden revelation came over her. She fought not to show it on her face or risk ruining her chance. Once she felt she could do so without flaw, she asked her mother a question.

"Have you bathed yet mother?"

Miya directed an instantly suspicious look at her daughter.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, since it's already so late, I was thinking…..we could share a bath…..since the tub here is almost as big as the one at home."

Miyuki had said this with what she hoped was a very innocent expression. Now she noticed Tatsuya also looking at her with an odd expression too.

It had been more than three years since Miyuki had taken a bath with her mother. Miyuki had been rather obstinate in declaring back then that nine years olds were too old to be taking baths with their mothers, and that she was big enough to take her own baths alone. The result was that instead of bathing with her mother she then had Honami watching her bathe until she entered middle school just months before. It was a compromise of sorts, but not the result Miyuki was hoping for either.

It had been a rather early example of Miyuki standing her ground and not yielding; and since both had witnessed "the struggle" first hand it was only natural both were now equally surprised at her sudden reversal.

Yet where Tatsuya was simply surprised, their mother looked intensely suspicious instead.

"…is that so?"

The doubt pouring out of her mother's mouth and expression almost made Miyuki start to squirm.

Then Miya suddenly relented.

"Very well."

Miyuki couldn't believe how easy that had been. Clearly, by his next words, her brother seemed to indicate that he didn't feel it had been hard enough.

"Mother, I would not recommend a hot bath due to the potential for heat exhaustion."

Miyuki fought hard not to express her sense of betrayal at his sudden unhelpful recommendation.

Miya seemed unperturbed.

"Would a luke-warm bath be alright with you Miyuki?"

Miyuki nodded as she responded.

"It has been a very hot day, something less warm than normal would be refreshing, I think."

She didn't have to lie at all by saying this. It probably would be refreshing to take a less than near scalding bath as was normal.

"Very well, Tatsuya, go and….."

"I can draw a bath for us mother."

She smiled back benignly at Miya.

"There's no need to burden Onii-sama with such mundane tasks."

Miya cocked her left eyebrow at her daughter. She clearly wasn't convinced of Miyuki's innocent intentions.

"Very well, proceed."

* * *

Miyuki immediately went to the bath and filled it with warm water. She then showered up and entered the bath to await her mother.

Miya came shortly, showered, and entered the bath after Miyuki stood to help her in.

Once they were both settled in, they relaxed and sat there silently, allowing the water to sooth away their aches and cares. If Miya could sense her daughter's rising anticipation she expertly ignored it.

After a long silence had developed, Miya finally opened her eyes and smiled at her daughter.

"Well dear, you have me alone as you had planned, is there something you want to discuss?"

Miyuki had known Tatsuya would take this opportunity to perform a patrol of the area. She also knew that the one place he was sure not to use his amazing eyes on them would be while they were in the bath together, not that she thought he would indiscriminately use his magic just to eavesdrop on them anyway.

Miyuki looked back at her mother with growing tension, but responded shortly after.

"Are….Bath Time Rules in effect?"

Miya's smile increased with her daughter's words.

"Well it's been a long time and we are certainly in a bath."

Her smirk increased as she continued.

"I knew one day that technique would turn on me, oh well. Yes, Bath Time Rules are in effect."

Miyuki sighed in relief then, and prepared herself for her first question. After a bit of working up on her part, Miyuki finally spoke.

"What was…..what is that….that magic you used on Onii-sama?"

Miya closed her eyes and leaned back with a slight smile now on her face. After a relaxing sounding sigh she answered languidly.

"I will not tell you its name. I will tell you noting about its activation either. I have, since discovering it, systematically worked to find all sources of knowledge about it, to collect it in my knowledgebase alone, and then to destroy all other sources of info on it."

She looked very seriously back to her daughter.

"It is my intention that that particular magic will die with me, never to be reborn again."

Miyuki's eyes widened at her mother's words.

"….why?"

Miya smirked lightly back towards her.

"It's too dangerous in the wrong hands, and the cost to use it is far too high."

Miyuki felt an instant dread in her heart.

"….and the cost to use it is too high?"

Miya nodded as she replied.

"You saw that it was painful for me to use, right?"

Miyuki flinched at that response, and solemnly nodded back.

"….what else does it cost the user?"

Miya looked sadly back at her daughter.

"…too much, Miyuki."

It wasn't an answer, but it answered so much. Miyuki looked down in sadness. She now knew this magic was causing permanent damage to her mother in some form.

Miya brought Miyuki out of her darkening inner thoughts by elaborating further on the magic.

"It is an ancient and obscure magic from the Continent. I discovered it while researching MI magics that might prove useful in dealing with your brother's unique problems. I recognized that it would provide the most effective relief to one of his major post-MI surgery side-effects, while causing him the least amount of pain or damage, and I judged that the side-effects for me were worth it, FOR ME."

Miyuki looked back at her with hooded eyes.

"And what does it do, exactly?"

Miya smirked at her.

"I think you already have a good idea yourself, don't you?"

Miyuki pouted back to her with a nod.

"It takes away his memories."

Miya sadly nodded back to her.

"Yes, but why would I take away his memories?"

Miyuki's pout was the same as before.

"Because…it's a memory that includes an emotion with it?"

Miya solemnly nodded her affirmation.

"Don't you have a better question to ask me now?"

Miyuki pondered this for a few moments before formulating the question she thought her mother wanted to answer.

"How does Onii-sama have emotions not related to me?"

Miya nodded with a satisfied smile. She seemed to be proud that Miyuki reached that conclusion, but Miyuki thought it was too obvious to be praiseworthy.

"How indeed?"

Miya smiled indulgently at her daughter.

"He's not supposed to be able to have emotions not related to you, right?"

Miyuki could only nod her agreement. That has always been her understanding of her Onii-sama's emotional limitations.

"What do I always say about the human mind?"

Miyuki could easily answer that question. It was one of her mother's favorite saying.

"The human mind is a wondrous and mysterious device that we may never fully understand."

Miya nodded in reply, then she spoke softly again.

"And what am I?"

This question took Miyuki off her guard. When it was clear that Miyuki didn't understand the question Miya added it in for her.

"I am a human, and what are humans?"

It took Miyuki a moment, but she blurted out the answer the moment she had it.

"….flawed creatures?"

"Precisely my dear."

Miya smiled lightly back across the water to her daughter.

"I am a human, you are human, even 'The Great Onii-sama' is human."

Her mild chiding of Miyuki's new-found admiration for "Onii-sama" was more teasing than serious, which resulted in Miyuki mildly blushing.

"And what does that make all of us?"

Miyuki only pondered for a moment before the answer.

"We're all…flawed creatures."

"Yes, and flawed creatures not only make mistakes, but they also never reach perfection. Since magicians are also humans that means that their magics are also less than perfect."

Miyuki seriously absorbed her mother's words.

"That means…the Mental Interference surgery you preformed on Onii-sama…..was….."

"Not perfect, to say the least."

Miya smiled benignly at her pondering daughter.

"You like gelatin, right?"

Miyuki cocked her right eyebrow at her mother's sudden topic change.

"…..yes."

Miya smirked a little at Miyuki's obvious frustration.

"And you know how it's made?"

Miyuki nodded back, still perplexed.

"The human mind is a lot like a bowl of gelatin."

Now Miyuki looked back at her mother with confusion on her face.

"Especially when it is a young mind like Tatsuya and yours. Solidified gelatin, much like an adult brain, can still be sculpted into different 'shapes'; but the same contents are still there. It's still either cherry flavored or mint flavored, no matter how it is cut, it will still 'taste' the same. In other words an adult brain can still learn, but things like personality are already generally well defined and permanent. Most adults never change 'who they are', simply because they can't anymore. They are, who they are."

Miyuki had seen this in her real life experiences with adults, they tended to be creatures of routine who preferred things the way they are accustomed to. Yet she thought her mother was getting at something deeper than just that particular example.

"When you first make gelatin you start with a flavored liquid. This is much like a baby's brain. The 'ingredients' are already there, but it has yet to take a 'shape'. In fact you can pour it into any mold and so long as it is not disturbed it will eventually solidify and take the shape that mold applies to it."

Miya now looked at her daughter very seriously.

"Once the gelatin powder is stirred in, and the combination placed in a cooler; the process of solidification begins. This represents what happens as the baby grows and learns and becomes a toddler, then an adolescent, and finally a teenager. Much like the steps of becoming an adult brain, the steps in making solidified gelatin require consistency and patients."

Miya smiled again as she continued.

"If you are able to watch the gelatin harden you will notice that certain parts of it harden faster than others; much like a child learns to walk and speak before they can do calculus or ride a bicycle, or eventually operate heavy machinery like cars. If, during the middle of this process you disturb it, or even pour it in a new and different shaped container; depending on how solid it is already it may never properly form into what you want it to become."

Miya's expression became serious again.

"While both you and your Onii-sama now have mostly 'solidified' brains, there's still a lot of 'fluidity' in there."

Miya then looked away with those faraway eyes she possessed.

"Six years old was already far too late to apply the Artificial Magic Calculation Area to your brother's brain. Magic is one 'ingredient' in the 'liquid' that makes up the initial composition of a human mind. In other words it is something you are born with, but like any talent a baby doesn't possess the knowledge yet to use that talent. However, even Tatsuya started showing his ability to use his talents as a toddler."

Miyuki could see a sadness in Miya's eyes.

"Still, I waited, hoping I could find some other MI magic that would be…better…than the surgery. Six years old was almost too late."

Then serious eyes bore down on Miyuki again.

"I told you yesterday that what I did to Tatsuya was much more sophisticated than what I had done to Maya. Instead of taking the emotions from his memories, I applied permanent upper and lower emotional thresholds to his ability to have emotions. If you visualize emotions as waves, I applied a low and high pass filter to his emotional wave pattern."

Seeing this analogy was confusing to Miyuki, she tried a simpler model.

"Think of big ocean waves, they're scary, right?"

Miyuki nodded to this question.

"Your Onii-sama, in most things, can neither have emotional troughs or peaks. His mind, like a boat in the seas of emotions, will never plunge into a trough of depression or despair, nor crest a peak of love or anger. Except for you, he will never be lead off course or through rough emotions."

Miyuki hung her head down in sadness.

"…..except for me."

Miya sighed heavily at her daughter's sadness and continued onward to dispel her gloom with a smile at her.

"We have already discussed why it is important that his emotions for you be normal, right?"

Miyuki looked up with sudden determination blazing in her eyes.

"Yes mother, I will protect him."

"I know dear."

Then Miya became serious again.

"But to make that special place in his emotions just for you, I had to apply a….well, for lack of a better term, a 'cut' in my filter. And anywhere you make a cut, you risk a tear forming. A crack in the wall so to speak."

Miya smiled somewhat sadly now at Miyuki.

"This brings us back to what we previously have discussed. The human mind being mysterious and wondrous, my magic having flaws like any other magic, and the 'liquidity' of young minds."

Miya leaned back and sighed before she continued.

"Tatsuya's mind, still being young and 'fluid', can still, despite my best efforts, find ways around my magic filter in his emotions. The best results for my MI surgery would have been seen in an adult mind, one already formed; but even then the mind finds ways around artificial barriers. It simply is too wondrous for any other mind to comprehend fully."

She looked away again as she spoke.

"Once he reaches his late teens, I think his mind will be 'solidified' enough to not need me using that magic to take his memories. Yet, as we have seen this week, he is not quite there yet."

She then turned serious eyes on Miyuki once again.

"That's why when I found the ancient magic I used to remove his memories, it was almost a perfect solution for him."

Miyuki looked back with a skeptical expression.

"Before I found that magic, had I used my inherent MI magic on him to take his emotional memories; I would have had to take almost an entire three year block of memories from him. My own magic is that imprecise."

Miyuki was stunned by this revelation, but to her confusion Miya laughed lightly back.

"That's much better than when I was was your age. That's why I elected to take only your aunt's emotions and not her memories. Had I gone after everything it literally would have been EVERYTHING. Only three years is a major improvement, I assure you."

Her mirth faded quickly as she continued.

"This ancient magic, allows me to become like a video editor. I can see Tatsuya's recent memories, identify the ones attached to strong emotions, cut them from his memory, and then splice his memory back together in a way that reduces his need to question the differences. No need to take years from his mind, no need to reset his mind to zero. Had I had this magic as a child, so many things would have been different. I could have simply taken only the bad memories from your aunt's mind."

Miya had an expression of regret, but Miyuki's expression was borderline depression.

"…but the costs?"

Miya looked up with sad eyes at her daughter's quiet question.

"Had I simply took all your brother's emotions, like I did your aunt, there would have been no repercussions for me. That level of magic is normal for my abilities."

Her expression grew much sadder as she continued.

"But, the MI surgery I performed on your brother was much more complicated and intense. You remember I was bed-ridden for two weeks afterwards?"

Miyuki sadly nodded that she remembered.

"That was a one-time use magic."

Stunned and widen eyes greeted her mother's shocking words.

"….one time….use?"

Miyuki heard the desperation in her own voice. In magic circles the term "one time use magic" was synonymous with saying that it was a magic that permanently damaged the user. Sometimes to the point of death. Honami's efforts the day before fit the extreme definition of a "one time use magic" perfectly.

Miya extended her hands out towards her daughter, who grabbed hold and allowed her mother to pull her into her embrace on her left side.

"I certainly can never use that magic again, not that I would want or need to. Your Onii-sama is and was a special case."

Miyuki snuggled into her mother's side and tried not to let her see the fear she felt inside.

"But…..what about Gate, can you use it still?"

Gate was Miya's signature magic. It literally caused a person's mind to temporarily turn off. Miyuki also knew it was the last option to stop Tatsuya if he ever truly lost control.

The last acceptable option for her, since the "ultimate" option was her own super-powered version of Gate….Cocytus.

But Cocytus had a very big and terrible flaw. Where Gate was temporary and left no lasting damage, Cocytus was just far too powerful.

If she ever had to use Cocytus on her Onii-sama, he'd never wake up again.

And that was completely unacceptable to Miyuki.

She felt and heard her mother sigh hard before responding.

"Right now, today, while I could easily use Gate on a non-magician, or even a somewhat normal magician. With someone with high Interference ability like your brother…."

Miya shook her head sideways in obvious discomfort at her thoughts.

"…in my current state, I'd be too weak to overcome his Interference. After this week, I might never get to the level needed to break his Interference again. He only improves with time, as I decline."

Miyuki directed stunned eyes again at her mother.

"….but, but I….."

Miya stroked Miyuki on the head gently and pulled her quaking body into her own.

"This was the worst week so far for your Onii-sama by a wide margin; and we got through it successfully without using Gate or Cocytus, now didn't we?"

Miyuki nodded as she continued to tremble.

"But…..but that's because you used that ancient magic, who's price is too high to use, right?"

Miya continued to stroke Miyuki's head as she responded.

"That wouldn't have worked in the heat of the moment. Had he made a rash decision, well, it's not a 'quick draw' magic like Gate. Still, we didn't have to use it. That mind of your Onii-sama is solidifying well. In a few years he will be almost an adult and so long as we can limit…..things like yesterday, he will become strong enough to resist most emotional 'leakages' on his own, without us having to go to unpleasant extremes."

Then Miyuki heard Miya mutter as if she were alone.

"Still, a few more years would have been useful."

Miyuki pulled back and stared terrified at these words. Realizing such, Miya moved quickly to change topics.

"You realize Cocytus is a more powerful form of Gate, right? That I concentrated my magic into you as you grew inside me in the hope that you would become a superior MI magician in comparison to myself?"

Miyuki timidly nodded back.

"I told you that now I can erase three years of memories; where before, at your age, I could only take all memories from your aunt, or all emotions."

Her warm smile settled her daughter down as she continued to explain.

"That means, that as my mind solidified and I practiced more, I learned to use that magic by degrees."

Miyuki blinked mild confusion towards her mother.

"That means as that brain of yours solidifies and you gain experience, you too can learn to use Cocytus by degrees."

Miyuki shook her head in denial.

"But…you always said…..if I had to use Cocytus on Onii-sama…I should never hold back!"

Miya looked away with some shame showing on her face, a rare sight that heightened Miyuki's agitated state.

"Well….since you didn't know before about how powerful Tatsuya's Interference ability was, I couldn't afford for you to hold back if the time ever came for you to act against him. He's simply that powerful."

Miyuki was mortified and angry. She stood up in the water and stared down at her mother in horror.

"But…Onii-sama…..I would….I…."

Miya reached gently for Miyuki's arm and pulled her back down into a seated position.

"You already know why it may be necessary to use Cocytus on him. I don't intend to justify my actions in not explaining this before now. My reasons are now known to you and are valid. He cannot be allowed to use Material Burst in anger. You know this."

Miya seemed agitated at Miyuki, but Miyuki suspected she was trying to cover for her own sense of shame at deceiving her daughter.

Then Miya's expression went warm again as she reached out to hold Miyuki's hands.

"But now you are old enough to begin learning how to use Cocytus in degrees, and it will make it more useful not only for Tatsuya but other situations as well. It contains all that Gate is within it and more. You have already mastered the 'more' part, and I will teach you how to master the Gate portions as well. We'll start on it as soon as we get home."

Miyuki was still unhappy, but the relief she felt knowing now that her ultimate innate magic wasn't just for killing brought her great relief, especially where her Onii-sama was concerned.

They sat there pleasantly letting the water sooth them for several more minutes before Miyuki formulated another question.

"What happens…to the memories you take from Onii-sama?"

Miya cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at her daughter before replying.

"The precision of that magic comes at the cost of having the user take on the memory and the emotions as if it were our own. This process not only results in intense physical pain, as you have seen, but weakens me physically and magically. While I can recover from it, it takes more time every time I use it."

Miyuki looked away with a pensive look.

"So, now you remember Onii-sama's emotion and memories like they were your own?"

Miya sadly nodded back to her daughter.

"Yes dear, I relive my son's emotions as if they were my own. It was if I was there on that hill, watching Honami die and not able to save her."

"OH! Momma!"

Miyuki rushed to comfort her, but Miya stopped her with a delicate palm raise.

"No dear….I took these from your brother willingly. I accept the consequences with full knowledge. This is one of the least things I can do to help my son."

Miyuki sat back down in the water, defeated.

"Smile Miyuki."

Miya smiled at her as she lightly demanded the same back from her daughter.

"Our Tatsuya is well and safe because of a little pain for me. It's not too high a price for a mother. One day you will understand, as you hold your own children in your arms, and do a much better job for them than I could ever do for your brother."

Miyuki forced a smile onto her face as she nodded back.

Yet in the back of Miyuki's mind there was still the fear. The fear that her mother was holding something terrible back from her. Miyuki had all the evidence she needed to piece together the truth that caused her so much fear. The horrible truth she knew was waiting ahead of them, but that her mother still concealed from her.

"….momma?"

She could bear it no longer.

"Yes my darling?"

Her words were too smooth, her breathing too perfect. It was as if Miya already knew what her daughter was going to ask her.

"Are you…."

She was fighting back tears as she tried to push the dreaded question out of her mouth.

"….dying?"

Miyuki braced herself for the dreaded answer. A light sigh escaped Miya's mouth. It was as if she relaxed at the sound of Miyuki's voice.

"My smart and beautiful girl. You are way too cleaver for your own good."

Miyuki inhaled deeply to prepare herself for the coming argument as she tried to fight her mother for the truth, but Miya's words came forth first.

"I have had to do many, many terrible things to fix the sin I committed against your brother. Of having left him vulnerable to the whims of another's desires for vengeance. Things I have done that I am certainly not proud of."

Miyuki didn't understand what Miya meant by 'another's desires for vengeance'; but the intense sadness Miya's eyes poured into her daughter with the words 'things that I am certainly not proud of' almost made Miyuki feel as if she were actually talking about Miyuki being one of those 'things'.

"But sacrificing some of my life force to protect my son is not one of those things."

Miyuki inhaled hard at these words as she began to sob uncontrollably.

"MOMMA NO!"

Miya smiled as warm tears also fell from her eyes, she reached out for her little girl who rushed into her arms crying and sobbing out of control.

Miya stroked her hair to sooth her devastated daughter.

"It will not be tonight my dear, or tomorrow. You and I still have lots of time together."

Miyuki squeezed her hard. Probably harder than she should squeeze her weakened mother, but Miya didn't complain.

"But since the moment I decided to give my boy the Artificial Magic Calculation Area, I have known that this body's days had been dramatically shortened. But for his sake, and the sake of the world, a shortened lifespan is a small price to pay for my numerous sins."

Miyuki let out a particularly intense cry of mental anguish then.

Then sudden static crackled as the intercom to the bathroom came to life.

"Please pardon the interruption, but is everything alright?"

Miyuki, tear streaked eyes looking surprised at her mother, stood at the sudden sound of her Onii-sama's voice.

Miya, with a knowing smile at her daughter, replied effortlessly to her son's question.

"We're fine Tatsuya. Just having a bit of a cry."

Miyuki knew that the way her mother said this would make her Onii-sama think she was crying for Honami's sake.

"Are you alright Miyuki?"

Still, even his own mother's words were insufficient for him. Only his imouto's reassurances of her condition would do.

Miya knowingly nodded to her daughter. Through her emotional strained voice Miyuki responded.

"I'll be alright Onii-sama. I promise."

Silence hung in the air then. Had he not heard her?

Then his voice replied after the long pause.

"Very well. I will remain close incase either of you need me."

The intercom went dead and Miyuki sank slowly back into the water beside her mother.

"He ran here, the moment he detected you crying."

Miyuki turned her eyes in astonishment at her mother's assertion. Miya smiled back at her.

"You thought we were alone, and in our words to one another we were; but even as a toddler, once he mastered Elemental Sight, he has never once, no matter how difficult the situation he has been in at the time, taken his special eyes off his imouto, or his mother."

Miyuki couldn't believe this, but her mother continued.

"He has watched us for as long as he has been capable of doing so. It's not his active Elemental Sight, he only uses that when needed, but his attachment to Eidos is so strong that he can 'see' or perhaps better described as 'feel' us even while he sleeps."

Miyuki couldn't wrap her mind around this ultimate form of constant vigilance.

"He did this long before I gave him the MI surgery. He has always been concerned for us, especially you. He would often escape his confinement to sit outside our doorways at night. I had to use Gate on him so I could carry him back to his bed, but as often as not as soon as Gate's effects ended he was back beside your doorway. Honami found him there many mornings."

Miyuki started crying again, and Miya gently stroked her hair again to reassure her.

"No matter how poorly we treated him, he still worried for our sakes. He has always been that way. For some reason, even when he had all the same emotions as before, he still….I suppose for lack of a better word for it….loved us, no matter how harsh I was with him."

Miya turned away slightly and a few tears escaped her eyes.

"I certainly didn't deserve or earn that level of devotion from him. He had every reason to hate me back then."

Miyuki nuzzled inside Miya's arms.

"Does Onii-sama know….that you're…"

She couldn't say that horrible word again, not now.

Miya stroked her head gently.

"He has known since he woke up from the surgery. Hayama said that the first words he spoke once he woke and confirmed our locations in…Eidos was…"

To Miyuki's amazement Miya swallowed hard and fought not to sob. And then before her frightened and astounded daughter's eyes Miya began to sob openly.

"…he said….he was…unworthy of such a….a sacrifice…FROM MADAM!"

Miya buried her face in her hands and let go of all the pain she had felt all these years. Miyuki couldn't believe what she was seeing. She moved quickly to wrap her arms around her sobbing mother.

"It's alright momma. We're alone. You can let it go now."

Miyuki held her crying mother as they both sat there in the slowly cooling off water.

"Mother, are you certain you are alright?"

Tatsuya's words surprised them both this time, then Miya began to try to compose herself to respond. Miyuki could see that her mother was trying to apply a false mask. To reply to her son in a cold manner when her heart ached to reach out and hold her beloved boy in her arms.

Miyuki leaned into her mother's ear to whisper words to stop the laborious efforts to compose herself.

"Let me do, what I was born to do."

Miya turned concerned, tear stained eyes at her daughter, who through her own tears smiled happily at her mother.

"To protect my Onii-sama…..with love….for both of us."

Miya stroked her daughter's hair with a sad smile and nodded.

"We are alright Onii-sama. Mother and Miyuki will be out in a little bit."

She knew she had put all the joy that her Onii-sama made her feel into her words for him. If that didn't reassure him nothing could.

After another long pause he responded.

"Of course. Should I prepare tea?"

Miya and Miyuki smiled as she responded.

"Absolutely not Onii-sama! That simple task is Miyuki's to perform."

In the long pause that developed as he apparently tried to formulate a response, a surprising sound came from her mother beside her. As Miyuki looked down in shock, Miya was covering her mouth with her hand and desperately trying to surpress her….

 _"…laughter?"_

And then Miyuki, without any control of her own, helplessly joined in her mother's sudden outburst; which only served to loosen the final bonds of Miya's already failing attempts to stop laughing.

From the other side of the intercom there was dead silence as the listener heard these two laughing without reserve. In obvious shock at this unexpected turn of events, he finally responded in what could only be complete bewilderment for him.

"Um…very well. I'll get off the intercom….then."

And the line went dead as the two women tried to regain their composure and wipe tears of laughter from their eyes.

"I can't believe what I just did, in front of my daughter as well. It seems like years since I've laughed so hard. Hysterical crying followed by hysterical laughter. I've certainly set a bad example for you tonight."

"Don't say that mother!"

Miyuki's emphatic declaration drew her mother's immediate attention.

"After all mother….we are just humans."

At her daughter's unfailingly bright smile, Miya couldn't help but smile back. She reached across and pulled her daughter into her embrace again.

"Perhaps we all are humans after all my dear."

She stroked Miyuki's hair as they sat in the cooling off water of the once warm bath.

"He will never betray you."

Miyuki turned to look at her mother's eyes.

"He will never fail you. He will always protect you, and he would gladly die for your safety."

Miyuki felt sadness well up in her again.

"But rest assured my dear, you will have earned that level of love from him. You will never betray him. You would willingly die for him. You will never fail him either.

Miyuki had already learned to feel these words in her own heart this week, but she couldn't explain how her mother could so easily understand her daughter's heart.

"The two of you will hold each other tightly and protect one another from the terrors of this horrid world."

Miya pulled her daughter into her embrace.

"And together you two will defy this cruel world."

Miyuki didn't completely understand her words, but they calmed her even so.

"And perhaps hope and love alone, will be enough for my children to endure the trials ahead?"

Miyuki had no hesitation in her reply.

"We will mother, this I promise to you."

Miya stroked her head gently.

"I know you will my love. I know you both will."


	9. Chapter 9: Love

She couldn't remember what she had dreamed about when she woke, which meant she hadn't had those horrible dreams about Honami's death again. That of course was a relief, but for some reason Miyuki still felt guilty. It was as if she thought she personally hadn't suffered enough this week.

 _"Not like Onii-sama has suffered…..or mother."_

Of course mother and Onii-sama were already awake. She apologized and immediately went to make breakfast. Tatsuya had immediately stopped his attempts to prepare breakfast before she woke, once she expressed her unhappiness about it. Again they praised her food, and again she felt that Honami's magic touch was missing from the meal.

After breakfast she insisted on manual cleanup once again. She liked the "alone" time it gave her, to concentrate her thoughts. When she was finished she turned around to survey her tiny world.

Tatsuya was still at the kitchen table, reassembling his new handgun shaped CAD for what had to be the hundredth time. Further away their mother was reading a data terminal at the tea table beside the patio doors.

It was as if these two didn't even live on the same planet with each other. She suddenly realized, much to her sadness, that while she had talked to both of them already today, neither had once spoke to the other in her presence.

Instead of letting out the tears of sadness she felt pushing up inside her, she decided to force a conversation instead.

"I'll make tea!"

Both of the two people she loved the most looked up at her together, and after a few seconds to register her words, both nodded to her with a smile.

 _"Do they even realize how alike they are?"_

Miyuki made her mother and her chamomile tea, and Onii-sama got his preferred black coffee. Miyuki happily brought it to the tea table and her mother smiled at her display of gracious manners.

Tatsuya stood up from the kitchen table and approached them. He took his coffee cup and lifted it to his lips. Once he lowered it he gave Miyuki a satisfied smile and turned to return to the table.

"That's your seat Onii-sama."

Miyuki smiled as she indicated the seat beside her, the seat between herself and their mother. Tatsuya sent her an uncomfortable and slightly reluctant look, but sat himself in the chair anyway. Miya only sent Miyuki a knowing glance over the top of her tea cup rim.

Seeing these two people willing to sit next to each other, but obviously still unwilling to engage each other directly in conversation made Miyuki tense. She decided to try to get the conversation going.

"Onii-sama?"

He smiled at her as he sat the coffee mug back down.

"Yes Miyuki?"

She beamed up at him.

"Why do you keep taking apart your new specialized CAD?"

Miya and Tatsuya's eyes drifted back over to where the CAD in question rested on the table with a handkerchief under it.

Tatsuya returned his eyes to Miyuki to answer.

"While the CAD is superior to its equivalents offered by Rosen Magicraft and Maximillian Devices, I feel that it's processing speed and aiming assistance device have the potential to be improved."

"Bring it over here."

Miyuki and Tatsuya were both surprised by Miya's sudden interest in a CAD. Tatsuya moved to retrieve it, and when he returned he set the CAD on its handkerchief in front of their mother. Miyuki hadn't even noticed that before sitting for tea Tatsuya had apparently reassembled it.

Miya, without lifting it, apprised the gift from Kazuma and Sanada with an expert's eyes. After a few moments of silent observation she turned questioning eyes on Tatsuya.

"You're aware of the hardware manufacturer for this device?"

Tatsuya nodded affirmation as he replied.

"Four Leaves Technology."

Miyuki spoke up next.

"That's one of father's CAD's?"

Miya smirked lightly as she answered Miyuki's inquiry.

"Your father handles mostly the business side of FLT's R&D department. I seriously doubt he had any direct input in the design of equipment in years, outside of perhaps aesthetic concerns."

Putting their mother's somewhat irritated sounding statement about the role their father played at FLT aside, Miyuki now examined the CAD herself. Noticing something odd, she turned to Tatsuya for the answer.

"I don't see an FLT logo on it. How did Onii-sama know it was made by FLT?"

He smiled lightly at his sister's curiosity.

"When standardized components of intended prototype equipment for the military or police are made, they typically don't include logos or serial numbers, that way the military or police can apply their own serial numbers to comply with their system of identification standards. However, since some of the components are standardized equipment offered by FLT, it was pretty easy for me to identify them, having seen previous FLT items before."

Miyuki looked back at her brother in happy amazement. She had no idea he was that familiar with CAD's and their manufacture.

"So you think that despite being better than its competitors, some of the hardware in this CAD is less than satisfactory?"

At her mother's intense look of displeasure at her Onii-sama, Miyuki suddenly remembered something important. For all intents and purposes the legal owner of Four Leaves Technology was their mother. It was literally, HER COMPANY.

If this fact caused her Onii-sama the same dreadful tension as Miyuki, he hid it well.

"While the processing speed and aiming assistance device are more than adequate for most magicians, those at the higher and lower end of the ability spectrum will notice different but equally less satisfying results."

Miya tilted her head slightly as she replied.

"Elaborate."

Miyuki had wanted them to talk more, but not exactly like this. There was a significant chance for an argument to develop, and also a good chance she'd get "left behind" if they became too technical.

Tatsuya never missed a beat.

"For lower end ability users the processing speed provides little sequence acceleration assistance improvement over the main competitors, a factor that will be a critical difference maker to tapping into the under saturated lower ability users market. For higher end users the rather mundane processing speed will hinder sequence deployment, an acceptable feature in a generalized CAD, but significantly less desirable in a specialized CAD. Since specialized CADs are currently a new and weaker offering from FLT, they should have focused on both improving components and lowering price to increase the desirability of their new offering. Instead, this is just a slightly better version of what you can already buy with a proven track record and slightly cheaper from more established specialized CAD manufacturers."

Miyuki braced herself for the coming rebuke, but instead Miya just cocked a curious eyebrow at her son before speaking again.

"And what is the flaw with the aiming device?"

Tatsuya again replied with a critical eye on the CAD between them.

"It's not so much a flaw as something magicians have simply learned to accept as reality."

Miya smirked again.

"Go on…"

"The aiming device includes a point five two seconds delay before correcting its targeting filter. Since magic only requires the magician's mind to identify the target to aim the magic, and this process occurs at approximately point two seven seconds, the extra point two five seconds delay actually hinders the entire point of using a specialized CAD."

Miyuki was confused by what she was hearing. She stepped in to have Tatsuya fill in the gaps in her knowledge.

"I'm not sure I understand Onii-sama, can you explain further?"

He nodded and continued.

"Specialized CAD users tend to be either Born Specialized magicians or magicians with a very limited repertoire of magic sequences, such as myself. To overcome the staggering magic variety available to a magician of Miyuki's unlimited talents, someone with a limited catalog of magic must rely on a specialized CAD to try to overcome their disadvantage."

Miyuki nodded slightly as she pondered her brother's words.

"So they need faster CADs to overcome the variety of magic a generalized CAD provides?"

Miya and Tatsuya both nodded at her correct answer.

"So the entire point of using a specialized CAD is it's faster?"

She knew it was an oversimplification, but they both nodded again with smiles at her.

"But…..doesn't the aiming assistance device in a specialized CAD also help it deploy a sequence faster?"

Miya answered her question this time.

"Only if the processing speed of the aiming device is equal to or faster than the magician's own ability to identify their target in their mind. If it lags behind the user's natural ability than it will hinder their deployment speed. However….."

She turned a discerning eye to her son next.

"…even with a lag of up to an entire second, specialized CADs are still capable of sequence deployment before most generalized CADs."

Tatsuya nodded that he understood that, but continued onward.

"Generalized CADs, when finely tuned to their magicians, and in the hand of a magician with superior talent, can deploy a sequence within point four seconds, negating the advantage of the specialized CAD aiming device entirely."

Miya smirked lightly at this reply.

"Yes, but such talented magicians are rare."

Tatsuya shook his head at this response.

"Coming from a family where every magician but our father and myself meeting the criterion I just described for superior talent magicians, I respectfully have to disagree with your assertion that such magicians are 'rare' mother."

Miyuki tensed up again, but Miya cocked a small smile at her son's words. Tatsuya continued onward again.

"The point of a specialized CAD is to make the user faster at deploying magic. Any delay in the system, be it processing speed or aiming refocus; that does not match or improve on the magician's innate talent is, by definition, a substandard device for that user."

To Miyuki's surprise, Miya continued to smile brightly at her son.

"I see…..and your good friend Sanada hasn't made any particular improves to that model."

Tatsuya looked at the CAD again with a clinical expression.

"He has only loaded some activation sequences in it, but while they are better than what is generally available, I'd have to judge they are not his latest or best efforts. He hadn't altered the hardware yet either. I suspect that this was a control model used to compare against their actual test model."

Miya smirked again.

"Well that would explain why Kazama would be so willing to give a thirteen year old magician a prototype in the first place. It would have been downright irresponsible to hand even you an advance testing model."

Tatsuya nodded his agreement with her assertion.

Now she turned gentle eyes toward Tatsuya.

"The limitations of the basic model prototype hardware were all pointed out by a young developer in FLT's Third Research Lab, his name is Ushiyama. However, no one on the software side made any complaints about it. So impress your sister even more, and tell us how you have already improved this CAD for your own use."

Miyuki turned adoring eyes to Tatsuya.

"First, I disabled the aiming device."

Miyuki blinked in confusion at this unexpected answer. Miya only smiled knowingly at her daughter's confusion as Tatsuya moved to clear up his sister's understanding.

"There is a tendency for users of a specialized CAD with an aiming assistance device to become over-reliant on that device, and thus inadvertently allow the aiming device to delay their natural sequence activation deployment ability until the device can also recognize the target. This of course only happens with magicians that are faster at target identification than their devices, and who do not realize that their natural aiming ability is being subconsciously suppressed. For those of us that do realize this, the aiming device becomes something to overcome, instead of helping. With no superior aiming device available to match my natural aiming speed, removing the aiming device is my personal best option."

Miyuki's eyes went wide in astonishment and delight.

"That's….brilliant Onii-sama! To think of downgrading your own device because you are better than the extraneous features of the CAD! Only Onii-sama could be so creative!"

Miya tried hard not to show the embarrassed Tatsuya how amused she was in this moment. Tatsuya's tepid response was exactly what both women expected of him.

"Um….thank you Miyuki."

The glow of adoration from Miyuki was apparently too brilliant for Tatsuya's comfort, so he turned towards their mother, who had just recovered her composure at that very second.

"What else did you do Tatsuya?"

Relaxing a fraction, Tatsuya continued.

"The standard FLT processor operating system included with this CAD was rather pedestrian and cumbersome, which is to be expected of an OS adapted from FLT's normal generalized CAD OS, so I wrote a new operating system for the CAD. I believe the new operating system software, even in the hands of lower end ability users, will improve their reaction time by a minimum of point four eight seconds. My own reaction time with this device has been reduced by one point one six seconds, which I believe would represent the higher end of the processing speed improvement spectrum with this particular operating system and CAD combination."

Miyuki didn't know much about software or hardware. She knew only the basics needed to operate a generalized CAD such as her own. She did know enough about those things to know that Tatsuya had done something truly incredible.

If she needed further proof, their mother was also having trouble processing what she had just heard. After a few awkward moments of silence, she asked her son a question with an incredulous look on her face.

"Let me make sure I have this correct. You modified the existing operating system?"

Tatsuya, apparently oblivious to his own astounding achievement, answered in a matter-of-fact manner.

"No, there were too many flaws to overcome, it was more efficient to write a new operating system from scratch."

Miya's eyes widened even more as she pushed on with her questions.

"When did you write this new operating system?"

Tatsuya had just finished sipping on his coffee. He answered once he had placed the mug back on the table.

"After Miyuki and I returned from the base on the day the Major gave me the CAD. I had completed it before Miyuki woke from her afternoon nap."

Miya blinked at him while trying to process his words.

"You wrote an entire CAD operating system software package in under two hours?"

Tatsuya nodded at her before adding his remarks. Suddenly he seemed to realize the extreme curiosity he had generated in his two female relatives.

"Actually I completed it in forty-five minutes. I had allotted myself only one hour to work on it that day. It took me an additional thirteen minutes to load my preferred activation sequences after that."

Sensing he might have somehow insulted their mother by pointing out so many flaws in what was soon to be FLT's newest public CAD offering, he tried to add some praise for it.

"The hardware, outside of the off-the-self aiming assistance device, is quite good. The central processor has no physical flaws in its design and accepted the new operating system without difficulty. I also found the new psion converter in this device to be a superior design over the nearest competitor models."

Miya snorted lightly at his last comment.

"The new psion converter design was also developed by the Third Research Lab's Ushiyama. His group has a tendency to exceed their mandate when they catch the scent of something interesting."

Miyuki was honestly surprised not only by how amazing her Onii-sama's software and hardware knowledge were, but also by her mother's knowledge of the goings-on inside of FLT. Miyuki had always gotten the impression, despite knowing her mother's ownership status of the firm, that Miya was more interested in her own MI related research pursuits and left FLT as the domain for their father. To see her intimate knowledge of the day-to-day activities inside FLT was a mild shock.

Inside this gap of time that developed in her own thoughts, Miyuki suddenly realized awkward silence had descended once again on the trio. This was clearly caused by their mother, who was obviously lost inside her own thoughts at that moment.

Miyuki jumped slightly when Miya broke the silence suddenly.

"Send me the operating system you have developed. I want to review it myself."

Tatsuya at that very moment sat down his data terminal.

"I just sent it to your private account."

Miya nodded to this.

"Miyuki."

Having suddenly been singled out, Miyuki inadvertently straightened in her chair.

"Yes….mother?"

Miya was looking in Miyuki's direction, but more at the table in front of her than at Miyuki's eyes.

"One day FLT might be your responsibility, but even as a just a magician you need to widen your understanding of CAD's."

Miyuki couldn't disagree with that statement. She had the ominous feeling that her own lack of knowledge was preventing her from properly understanding how amazing Tatsuya's new operating system truly was. She vowed silently to correct that obvious oversight of hers. She intended to properly understand all of the wonders of her Onii-sama.

Miya's eyes briefly drifted towards her son, before moving back to Miyuki.

"Next weekend I will arrange for you to have a tour of FLT's Third Research Laboratory. I'll have young Ushiyama give you both the tour."

Miyuki's excitement level shot up. She had no real desire to learn about the inner workings of CADs beyond impressing her Onii-sama; but she also realized instantly this trip was for her Onii-sama's benefit more so than hers."

Miya's eyes again fell on her son.

"There should be enough additional time for you to show Ushiyama that new CAD of yours and all your modifications. Get his input on it, I'll want to hear his impressions."

Tatsuya nodded his acknowledgement to their mother.

Miyuki could detect the same anticipation and excitement from her brother that he had possessed when Kazama was showing him around the base. This time Miyuki was much more positive about his excitement.

* * *

After morning tea, Miya allowed Miyuki and Tatsuya to apply their sunscreen to each other. The enjoyment Miyuki got from this cannot be described in mere words. If she had to assign words to it, then the closest thing in her mind was the word "bliss". She loved physical contact with Onii-sama now beyond anything else in the world.

She didn't even mind how tense Tatsuya was, both when having her apply sunscreen to him, and when he had to return the favor. She was luckily too young at that moment to experience the embarrassment she would eventually feel at these same actions in only a year or two more.

Morning was spent between frolicking in the sea and napping lightly under the tent. Again there was no one else on the beach to interrupt them in their own little world. Again the only eyes on them but their own came from the porch of their villa.

Soon it was lunch time and Miyuki was in such a good mood that she accepted her mother and brother's praises without any internal self-criticism of her food, but she still thought she could do even better. As she was cleaning up and fantasizing about round two of sunscreen application fun, she noticed that Tatsuya suddenly looked at his data terminal. Miyuki and Miya both turned curious eyes towards him as he read the message. When he was done he addressed Miya.

"Major Kazama has inquired if the invitation to tea you extended to General Saeki also applied to Captain Sanada and himself?"

Miya lightly sighed at these words. Miyuki tensed up instantly.

 _"Those people again?"_

She was fighting down a pout that threatened to erupt violently across her face.

"Never let it be said that I am not a courteous hostess."

There was more resignation in their mother's voice than actual concern about her social reputation. She briefly looked at the top right corner of her data device.

"Tell them two…fourteen hundred hours is when we take our tea."

Tatsuya nodded and his fingers flew across his data terminal to reply.

Miya then turned sympathetic eyes to her obviously unhappy little girl.

"Go straighten up and make yourself presentable. Your return to the beach will be delayed slightly."

Miyuki reluctantly nodded and went to wash off her remaining sunscreen and sand with a dejected look.

* * *

Precisely at two in the afternoon the doorbell to the villa rang. Miya and Miyuki instantly began to deploy their ojou-sama false masks, but seeing Tatsuya heading to answer the door, Miyuki quickly burst forth to get in front of him.

"…Miyuki."

The rebuking tone in her mother's call to her froze Miyuki in her tracks, but the beautiful little girl in the white sundress with yellow daisies imprinted on it turned her beautiful ojou-sama mask on her own mother.

"I believe I should answer the door in this situation, since it is obviously mother and Onii-sama that the Major and Captain are here to see."

Instead of bowing, this time she executed a prefect curtsey to her mother.

Miya lightly rolled her eyes with a knowing smirk.

"Very well dear, but slowly and with the proper decorum. We aren't baboons."

At these affirmative words Miyuki smiled brightly and proceeded to turn back for the door; only to be stopped dead by additional words from her mother.

"Perhaps on the flight home, my daughter will kindly explain to her poor mother all the new etiquette rules she's come up with to operate her mother's household under?"

Without turning around, Miyuki's ojou-sama mask faltered and a look of dread swept her face. Being the only one who could see both their faces, Tatsuya could tell their mother's rebuking words were only half serious, but there was no way to transfer that knowledge, to relieve Miyuki, in a subtle manner.

Realizing her daughter was going to let their guests ring the doorbell twice, Miya intervened.

"You wanted to answer the door, please go do so."

"Um….yes mother."

Forgetting their mother's previous admonishment entirely, Miyuki suddenly rushed forward as if pricked by the stinger of a hornet. Once at the door she grabbed the knob and after a brief pause to reapply her 'mask', she opened the door.

"Welcome back Major Kazama-san, Captain Sanada-san. Please enter."

She neither checked the door monitor screen on the near wall or the traditional pee-hole before opening the door without any hesitation. She knew that Tatsuya would have stopped her if there were any threat on the other side.

"Ah! Greeting Miyuki-san."

"It's good to see you again Miyuki-san."

Miyuki bowed lightly to them in acknowledgement of their greetings.

"Please step through to the living room. Onii-sama and mother are already there."

Once in sight of Tatsuya and his mother, the two officers bowed to Miya who nodded in response."

"Welcome back gentlemen, please take a seat."

Both men immediately turned to greet Tatsuya with a bow before joining Miya on the couches.

"It's good to see you as well Tatsuya-san."

Tatsuya bowed to both as he responded.

"Thank you Major. I am pleased to see you are both well."

Miyuki stepped up to the table as the two officers sat down.

"My apologies gentlemen, but we only have four types of tea. Would you gentleman prefer green, earl grey, chamomile, or Darjeeling tea?"

Apparently being military men meant they were not used to even such a limited variety of tea. They exchanged slightly perplexed looks with one another.

"Perhaps our guests would prefer coffee Miyuki?"

Miyuki beamed brightly back at their guests after her mother's suggestion.

"Onii-sama will be having coffee as well."

They both smiled at Tatsuya and then back at Miyuki. The Major answered for both of them.

"I think whatever Shiba-san would like would be perfect for us young lady."

Miyuki already knew her mother liked Darjeeling tea in the early afternoon.

"Darjeeling it is, I shall return shortly."

Miyuki curtseyed again and moved toward the kitchen.

"I will assist you Miyuki."

Tatsuya moved to come to her side, but Miyuki's words stopped him immediately.

"Nonsense Onii-sama! I'm sure the Major and Captain can't wait to talk with you."

Tatsuya seemed momentarily flustered, and then surprised as their mother indicated with a hand wave for him to join them on the couches.

He awkwardly took a seat beside their mother, but then suddenly spoke to his retreating sister.

"I too would like tea Miyuki, if you do not mind?"

Miyuki turned and very solemnly bowed to her brother.

"Onii-sama's wish is his Miyuki's command."

When she rose the two military officers looked very amused, Tatsuya was clearly embarrassed, and Miya was cocking an irritated eyebrow at her daughter's effusiveness. Miyuki entered the kitchen area feeling truly happy with herself.

She returned only a few minutes later and passed out the cups and saucers. She wasn't paying too much attention yet, but the officers were giving their mother an update on the situation on the island. Miyuki poured for the Major and Captain first, then for their mother and Tatsuya before pouring her own tea last and sitting on Tatsuya's other side.

"Luckily we had captured or eliminated all enemy combatants well before morning. We have even captured seven enemy magicians. Your sister has graciously offered to assist in the interrogations."

Miya responded before taking her first sip of tea.

"You should recommend to the General to accept her offer. Certain members of my family are extremely talented at information extraction."

Everyone followed Miya's example and took their first sips of tea with her.

Miyuki, suspecting that the rumors these officers had obviously heard of the Yotsuba before now should be enough to make their mother's words send a cold shiver down their spines. Miyuki certainly was fighting her own urge to tremble at the suggestion. If either man was bothered though, they hid it very well.

"I'll certainly pass your recommendation along to her Shiba-san. By the way young lady, very good tea."

Miyuki was surprised at the sudden attention directed towards her.

"Indeed it's excellent, did you boil the tea in a kettle?"

Miyuki was slightly surprised that Sanada could tell such a detail.

"Yes, I did indeed Captain."

"Seems you also ground them from fresh leaves and strained it yourself as well. Very meticulous of you young lady."

"Um….but it is the best way to make tea Sir."

"Um…no doubt. It's very good young lady."

Both praised her as they took another sip with enjoyment. Miyuki had clearly underestimated these two's knowledge of tea. Their praise would have made her tea making instructor, Honami, very happy to have heard.

Both Tatsuya and Miya directed approving smiles to her as well.

"Thank you for saying so gentlemen."

Miyuki nodded her thanks as well.

"My daughter can be quite diligent in her attention to detail, when properly motivated to."

Miya added on additional praise. Miyuki wished she'd direct some of that praise towards her well deserving Onii-sama as well. She had enjoyed their mother's astonishment over Tatsuya's software skills this morning more than the praise she was receiving now.

The conversation quickly switched back to recent events.

"We found several malicious software packages deployed in civilian systems, like the closed circuit monitoring system and magic detection sensors around the island. However, we are now certain we have eliminated all of those threats."

Miya smirked gently at Sanada's assertion.

"How can you be so certain Captain?"

Sanada smiled back confidently, but differed to his superior for the answer.

"We have been monitoring all transmissions from this island for years, it is a major SDF forward installation after all. Plus, since before we arrived here we have redoubled our efforts. We intercepted over three thousand enemy transmissions via multiple transmission methods including magic. I can't go into further detail, but I can assure you that no images of you or your family left this island successfully. Every enemy who knew about you and your children has been…contained."

Miyuki knew what the word "contained" implied. She had to fight down another developing cold shiver. Apparently the SDF could be just as ruthless as the Yotsuba when they felt they needed to. Tatsuya's warm and reassuring smile to her at that moment helped fend off the cold shiver, but their mother's reply threatened to boost it again.

"And again we must now rely on hope."

Kazama blinked at her words before asking for clarification.

"I'm sorry Shiba-san?"

Miya smiled lightly back to him.

"Hope Major, we are now relying on hope. The hope that your dragnet has netted all possible information on us from leaking out. Let's be frank, there is no way you can possibly suppress all knowledge of us being here."

The officers looked only slightly put off by this obvious fact. There simply was no way to suppress all forms of transmission of information. If it was out there to find, someone who knew what to look for would eventually find it.

Kazama gave Sanada a small nod, which apparently indicated that he could elaborate further.

"Your sister graciously agreed to look into the matter further."

Miya didn't seem surprised in the least by this news. That meant the Kuroba-oji-sama's people were already deep into their investigation.

"We also are monitoring every person leaving the island for signs of magic alteration. While you are correct, we cannot eliminate all possible sources of information leakage; we are confident that the images of you and your children have been eliminated before they left this island, and that anyone who saw you and knew you were Yotsuba, are now….contained."

 _"There's that word again."_

What is pleasant and what is necessary were clearly two very different things in the "adult" world.

Kazama spoke up next.

"We are certain that they didn't know anything about you till you were caught in the closed circuit spyware at the Naha Airport. We are also certain that the submarine that attacked you, and the infiltrators Sakurai-san and Tatsuya-san dealt with, were unable to transmit your images off this island."

Miya smirked at that.

"You are certain of that Major?"

She lifted her teacup up delicately as she waited for a response. Kazama mirrored her actions, and once he put his cup back down he shared a devious smile with their mother.

"Between our two organizations, yes, absolutely certain."

Miya nodded lightly to the Major then. Miyuki knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the submarine that attacked them had never returned to the surface afterwards, and never would.

 _"So many more…..dead."_

But they were the enemy, so Miyuki immediately chalked their deaths up to the risk they took in trying to hurt her family. In other words it was what they had earned.

Next the Major seemed to tense a bit before continuing.

"Obviously we can't hide the fact that a new strategic-class magician has taken to the world stage, but since your own family has so expertly made sure that no evidence of the Shiba family visiting Okinawa existed before you even made this trip, it made our own information cleanup efforts that much easier."

Miya lightly nodded back to him.

"My sister will be pleased to hear your compliment of our humble efforts."

It was Kazama and Sanada's turn to smirk a bit. They both knew that "humble efforts" was a severe euphemism where the Yotsuba were involved.

Kazama took another sip before continuing.

"It would still be best if Shiba-san would reconsider our offer to transport her family home."

Miya cocked her left eyebrow at him, still smirking.

"Are you saying Naha Airport isn't secure, even now?"

"Nothing of the sort Shiba-san."

"Then the worst thing we can do is to draw further attention to ourselves. We'll leave on our commercial flight tomorrow morning as planned."

The officers looked less than pleased, but Miya mollified their discomfort with her next words.

"We do appreciate the offer though."

They all exchanged nods afterwards.

They would allow the patrol unit that guarded the area around their villa to transport them to a nearby empty transit station. From there they will call an AI taxi from a car company already vetted by the Family, which will transport them to Naha Airport for the flight home. With the monitoring devices now under the SDF's secure control in and around the island and especially at the airport, their departure should go off with no risk of further exposure.

Nothing about Tatsuya's future involvement with Kazama and the SDF was discussed, per their mother's expressed wishes from before. The two officers left after exchanging farewells and expressing to Tatsuya that they were looking forward to seeing him again in a few weeks' time.

Miyuki then got to reapply sunscreen to her awkward looking brother and then have the favor returned; before they enjoyed their last day in the sunshine of Okinawa, and their last night under the stars over the East China Sea.

Their mother's condition seemed to be improving, so Miyuki tried to bury in the back of her mind the fact that she had learned that their mother had shortened her own lifespan for Tatsuya's sake.

She crawled under the sheets that night and slipped off into slumber, hoping her dreams would match the previous night's and not the more intense ones from the nights before. She was ready to return home, and to pull a final curtain over what had been the most difficult and longest week of her young life.

* * *

As storms raged and waves lashed across the horizon, Tatsuya knelt at the top of a hill.

Before him lay the exhausted figure of Sakurai Honami.

Calmly Tatsuya knelt above where Kazama had sat her down seconds before. The tsunami waves lashing the dunes and lower part of the hill didn't register in his mind. All his calm but attentive concentration was focused on the woman who had protected him just minutes before.

"Don't worry Honami, I'll use Regrowth on you. Hold on."

Honami nodded with a smile towards him, but a few tears escaped her eyes. Knowing she had normal emotions, Tatsuya realized how terrifying this situation must be for her. The tears were certainly because of the stress, they couldn't signify anything else, right?

But the look in her eyes wasn't that of fear. Tatsuya thought she might be going into shock. The warmth she looked up at him with for some reason was causing him to subconsciously accelerate his actions.

He used flash cast and deployed the activation sequence for Regrowth. His mind absorbed and converted it into a magic sequence. The sequence deployed and Tatsuya replaced Honami's body with a perfect copy from this morning, just as he had successfully done only a couple of hours before.

But something was wrong.

There had been nothing "wrong" with the body he had just replaced. It was almost identical to the "new" one.

"….that's not right."

He murmured lightly with consternation inside him slowly building.

He activated the sequence again, again he replaced her body with a perfect copy, and again, nothing changed.

A sharp pain suddenly welled up from inside him and his breathing inadvertently began to accelerate.

 _"Is there something wrong with me?"_

He checked himself quickly for flaws in Elemental Sight.

 _"I'm….OK? But if I'm OK…"_

He urgently activated the sequence yet again, and again he replaced her body with a perfect copy, and again, nothing changed.

And again his breathing accelerated more, and the pain in his chest grew worse. He could feel himself begin to…..panic.

"Why is Regrowth not working?"

A weak but surprisingly happy voice called up to him.

"…It's alright, Tatsuya-kun. This is life after all."

He already knew what was wrong with her. He already knew it was something no one could fix, but his mind couldn't process this for some reason. Something was blocking his logic.

Something he hadn't felt for a very long time. Something more a distant memory than something "real".

An…emotion.

And a bad emotion at that.

Fear.

"WHY WON'T THIS WORK? I CAN'T LET YOU DIE!"

And now the long forgotten sensation of anger joined fear.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

And now despair had joined in, laced with self-hatred.

He leaned over her and fired off Regrowth again and again, but nothing changed. No matter how many times he tried, he could not put the life force she had expended back into her. Her body was perfectly fine, but her…..soul….was "leaking" away.

"ARRRRRRRR!"

And now guilt descended upon him from his distant past like a sledge hammer to his chest.

She had expended her life, for someone as unworthy as him.

A weak but gentle voice called to him again.

"It's not your fault. For augmented magicians like us, it's only natural that our life would run out sometime."

"NO! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

Around this scene a sudden blast of psions knocked the helplessly watching Kazama and Sanada from their feet. They frantically called out to him as they regained their feet, but he could not hear them.

He was locked inside a world created by his own unexpectedly resurgent emotions and intense but uncontrolled magic power, and the only thing that mattered to him in this little world was dying, because of him, and he was helpless to stop it.

Tears streamed from his face as he clutched desperately to his sweat matted hair. All around him a torrent of psion energy pushed out of him, consuming everything on that hill top in an uncontrolled outburst of Decomposition.

Tatsuya was in an uncontrollable emotional rage.

"I CAN'T LET YOU GO!"

"There's nothing you could have done precious Tatsuya-kun."

Tears were the only thing that marred her happy expression. She weakly reached up to him and he clasped her hand between his.

"Truly, it's not your fault. From birth it was my role to be a shield, and it's simply that today that role ends."

"HONAMI! PLEASE DON'T DIE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"

As the torrent of Decomposition radiated from him he buried his head in her chest and released all the forbidden emotions he had been denied for the past seven years. Honami reached up with her other hand and lightly stroked his hair as he cried uncontrollably.

"To die for your sake. That is something that I decided, not because I was ordered, but of my own free

will."

"Look around you Tatsuya-kun. Look how amazing your power is. Look and see that I spent my life well."

Seeing his rage in manifest form swirling around them, he began to try to control it, but to no effect. His emotions controlled everything around him now.

"I, who never once had the chance to freely choose in my life, am finally free to choose how I die, and I get to die for the sake of someone truly worthy of my sacrifice. I won't let this chance pass. I can finally choose to die not as a man-made tool, but as a person, because I know that you will change…..EVERYTHING."

Tatsuya furiously shook his head as she held him to her bosom.

"I am a FLAWED and BROKEN creation! Unworthy of your sacrifice!"

And inside he slowly began to accept that there was nothing he could do to save her, the torrent of his psion rage slowly began to dissipate.

Tatsuya's face was unmistakably filled with grief.

"No precious Tatsuya-kun, you are the greatest magician in the world. In your hands rest the power to save this world from itself. You have a great destiny before you, and I am honored to have played a tiny part in your epic story."

He turned a face full of desperation and fear to her.

"You, precious one, are the most important person in all the world."

She smiled at him and wiped away the tears around his face.

"To die for your sake is the honor of my life."

Tatsuya screamed out in rage again.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"No precious one, please, let me go. Let me die for you, please, Tatsuya, won't you let me go?"

"I CAN'T LET YOU GO! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT LOVES ME!"

To his desperate cry she offered her brightest smile yet.

"Yes, I love you more than life itself."

Then she lightly shook her head.

"But I am not the only one that loves you."

"YOU ARE! THEY HATE ME! SHE HATES ME! SHE'S IS ASHAMED OF ME!"

Honami lightly stroked his cheek as he buried himself back into her chest.

"No my precious Tatsuya-kun. She loves you more than you can ever know."

"That's…not…true…SHE HATES ME!"

Honami stroked his hair again.

"No Tatsuya-kun, she sent me here to save you. You are….her only hope."

He sobbed now, unable to control his breathing enough to speak. Beneath him he could feel the life energy ebb from Honami as her heart slowed and her breathing began to weaken.

"She will take this pain from you….because it will hurt you to remember."

She took a deep but labored breath before pushing out the rest of her statement.

"She too….is dying…you know this."

Tatsuya shivered in her arms.

"But what you don't know…..she's dying for you."

His raging emotions wouldn't let him believe this. He shook his head into her chest in denial.

"She expends her life force….as I have mine….for your benefit….to keep you safe."

"THAT CAN'T BE TRUE! THAT CAN'T!"

"It is precious one….she willingly dies….so you may live….free…one day."

Tatsuya pulled back from her and knelt before her. He grabbed her hand.

"She loves you…..and so does Miyuki. Please…continue to protect them both….and they will protect you too…..do this…..and my life will have been….spent….well."

Helpless in the face of life which could not be saved, crushed by emotions that he should have lost; to him Honami extended a weak, yet serene smile.

Now knowing that he could do nothing to reverse Honami's end, he could only grit his teeth and try to suppress his emotions.

"Go to them…..precious Tatsuya-kun…your mother will take away…..this terrible pain."

Sakurai murmured to Tatsuya in a sweet voice.

"We have….immortal souls…..I shall always be with Miyuki and you….my precious ones."

He could feel her last moments slipping away, tears threatened to free themselves from his eyes again.

Honami smiled at him through her labored breaths.

"My precious one…never doubt that you…were worth it…live well, and protect our…..Miyuki."

At Honami's words, Tatsuya could only nod silently.

With a look of peace, Honami closed her eyes.

Gradually, she stopped breathing.

As the last of her life slipped away, the last of Tatsuya's uncontrolled psions dissipated. The two officers approached him from behind as he looked helplessly down at his friend's now lifeless body.

Next to them, Sanada began to chant sutras.

Kazama placed a hand on Tatsuya's shoulder.

While carrying that hand, Tatsuya stood up.

There were no tears in his eyes now.

But the feelings of sorrow filled Tatsuya's heart.

Hearing Sakurai Honami's last words, he was convinced there was no need to grieve, but still he grieved without reserve.

Tatsuya at that time tried to convince grief away, and that would be the first time he would be unable to successfully do so.

* * *

This time Miyuki didn't bolt upright when her dream had ended, or scream out. This time she simply opened her eyes. It was still dark outside. A glance at her chronometer told her it was two thirty three in the morning.

The tears on her pillow told her that she had lived those moments now beside her precious Onii-sama.

It was no dream, it was her Onii-sama's own memories.

Memories he now had lost, or at least had "sanitized" for him.

And she knew she had shared his memories with someone else.

She turned at the sound of her doorknob turning, but no fear filled her heart. The silhouette in the dim light of the doorway was familiar and expected.

"I am…so sorry."

Miya's voice called out to her daughter in a whisper.

"I had no idea you could see all that too."

Miyuki sat up in her bed and stretched her arms out. Miya closed the door behind her and crawled into bed with her daughter, wrapping her arms tightly around her.

Miyuki could feel that her mother too had shed tears.

"It's killing you momma. I don't want you to die."

She turned to look at the shadowy face behind her showing wetness glistening in the low light from the window. Miya reached up to wipe away the tears from her own daughter's face.

"Believe me precious one, I don't want to die."

She took a deep breath then.

"But you must know, having seen with your own eyes; that someone with your Onii-sama's powers cannot be allowed to feel those terrible emotions."

Miyuki didn't want to agree that her mother had to sacrifice her life energy, but she couldn't refute her. She sobbed lightly and nodded in surrender.

"Do not fear little one. There is time left yet to us, and in that time I will prepare you to be your Onii-sama's shield. His constant protector."

Miyuki nodded and shivered slightly in her mother's arms. After a few quiet moments she spoke again.

"Why….why can we share…those memories?"

Miya sighed lightly before answering.

"I'm not sure. I certainly never expected to have to put you through that too."

After another long pause, she added speculation.

"I put a lot of my MI magic into you when you were in my womb. Maybe I went a little too far? Maybe I made your mind too much like mine? I don't know, maybe we're just too much alike? When we get home, we'll do a little research, OK?"

Miyuki nodded agreement. Mental Interference Magic was, like the mind itself, still mostly a mystery. Her mother's speculation, the speculation of the top expert in the world, sounded as good as anything Miyuki could have come up with to explain this "miracle".

After another long silence she asked another question.

"Will I ever be good enough…to protect Onii-sama?"

She knew her fear was leaking through her words. Miya pulled her in tightly and Miyuki could even feel the muscles of her mother's face twist into a grin behind her ear.

"Oh yes my dear, you will be far much better for him than I am. Have no fear my precious girl, you are…PERFECT…for Tatsuya."

Her mother's words had instantly soothed her trouble mind. Miyuki fell back into slumber, and her subsequent dreams about Onii-sama were much more pleasant.

In the room next door Tatsuya watched them through his special sight, and heard their whispered words with his well-honed hearing.

The final pieces of the mystery plaguing him these last few days seemed to be coming into focus. Once he was certain they both were asleep again, he decided to perform a patrol of the surrounding area.

This was more for him to clear his own thoughts than to actually watch for potential intruders.

He felt he had a lot to think over now.


	10. Chapter 10: Gratitude

Miyuki and her mother both woke at the same time. After the intensity of the night before, the fact that both didn't dream additional hard memories and actually got some decent sleep was a bit of a miracle in itself.

She was not surprised, but disappointed, to find that not only had Tatsuya woke before them, but had prepared breakfast as well. Her mother pointing out that they had an early flight brought her little relief. She was determined that food prep was not something her precious Onii-sama should be bothered with.

What did surprise her was that Onii-sama was not home when she woke. When she asked her mother about this, she was told Tatsuya was running errands. When she inquired further, Miya revealed that she had told Tatsuya the evening before to take Honami's clothes and other personal items to a local charity for reuse.

Under the excuse of making sure she packed everything one more time, Miyuki discretely checked her luggage. She breathed a smile sigh of relief when she felt the braid of hair wrapped inside one of her Onii-sama's handkerchiefs. She knew it was illogical to think the Honami's hair braid would suddenly disappear, but the reassurance of its presence brought an illogical relief to her none the less.

Honami packed very lightly for herself, especially for a woman. She also never brought anything that was significant to her that could be lost or abandoned on a trip. Tatsuya was the same way about his personal items, Miyuki suspected they learned this as part of their Guardian training.

She knew the items Tatsuya had taken to charity had meant nothing to Honami, but she would have still liked to have approved of each item herself first. It felt like pieces of Honami herself were escaping through her fingers.

She knew that on a slightly larger scale this activity would repeat itself when they got back home. She vowed to personally supervise which of Honami's items back home made it to a charity. Honami might not have been sentimental about her property, but Miyuki knew that now she herself would be. Honami's hairbrush came to the forefront of Miyuki's mind as the foremost of Honami's things she planned to secure when they got back.

She and her mother sat at the tea table by the patio to eat Onii-sama's prepared meal for them. Miyuki vaguely thought to herself that even Onii-sama's food tasted better than her own, at least to her. She again vowed to herself to become a worthy successor to Honami in the kitchen. They opened the patio door and let the warm morning sea breeze refresh them as they ate. The sound of the distant waves soothed her mind even further. Thoughts of the "dream" last night were willfully suppressed by her when they threatened to emerge.

With his normal perfect timing, Onii-sama returned as they finished their meal. After they mutually confirmed that each other was alright, he proceeded to arrange their luggage by the door. This was one "menial" task she would allow beloved Onii-sama to continue to perform. This had more to do with that fact that men traditionally carried a women's luggage for them, so in Miyuki's mind he wasn't being her servant now, but her male counterpart.

 _"My male…..companion."_

Thinking this as she watched him, she raised her hands to her face and shifted happily side-to-side with a smile on her face. She didn't notice her mother smirking at her obvious delight.

Miyuki was only mildly surprised when Tatsuya immediately began taking the assembled luggage outside, but seeing that a vehicle had indeed already arrived for them, she suddenly remembered how amazing Elemental Sight was.

When Tatsuya indicated to their mother that all the luggage was packed, they all walked out to the car. They both seemed relieved to see Miya do so well under her own power this morning. The vehicle waiting for them was not the military vehicle Miyuki was expecting. It also couldn't be called a luxury car either. Seeing both Miyuki and their mother's questioning looks, Tatsuya informed them he had convinced the Major that a more mundane vehicle would be appropriate to hide their identities with. It was a slightly older model, and was the same general dimensions as normal AI taxis.

Their mother was obviously less than impressed, but said nothing further. Miyuki of course followed her example. In her mind, Onii-sama always knew best, so a little lack of luxury was for a greater purpose in her mind.

With the advent of cheaper bio-meteric recognition devices, "keys" of the physical or electronic types were rarely needed anymore. As a result there was no need to "drop off keys", so they could proceed on their way. Their checkout time was scheduled for eleven in the morning, and after that the scanning devices would require permission for non-permanent residents to reenter the villa.

Miyuki was only slightly surprised to realize that the vehicle was taking them in the opposite direction from the airport. When she inquired, Tatsuya explained that a more distant transit station would be less likely to be under potential enemy surveillance. He then informed their mother that no one was following them either, another gift from his Elemental Sight.

The "transit station" they eventually arrived at was indeed abandoned. It wasn't much more than a covered park bench beside a sidewalk with an embedded service terminal to call an AI car from, if you didn't have your data terminal on you. Tatsuya quickly placed their luggage on one end of the bench and verbally instructed their vehicle to "return". The AI on-board drove the car away.

This transit station was "abandoned" at the moment because it was in a tourist area of the island that was rapidly depopulated after the attack. Apparently empty villas blocked most of the views of the sea on the other side of them from easy sight. Miyuki vaguely wondered if the tourism industry on the island would ever recover from the results of the attack. She hoped so, it was a beautiful place and she knew lots of local jobs relied primarily on tourists. Recovery would be more difficult if those tourists decide to go to "safer vacation spots" instead in the future.

When she pointed this out to Tatsuya he said that the government would probably provide relief programs to encourage visitors to return and at cheaper rates; and also beef up the military presence to reassure the visitors that do come.

Miyuki thought seeing lots of military around would put off normal visitors, but she could see where that might be helpful for a few seasons anyway.

Only a few moments later the AI taxi pulled up and Tatsuya secured the luggage again. They all boarded and this time the vehicle headed off in the correct direction for Naha Airport. After examining his data terminal Tatsuya reported that the official information sources said their flight was on time and that the surge caused by people fleeing the island had substantially subsided in the last few days. Then he contradicted this statement by saying "unofficial" online sources still seemed to indicate long wait times.

* * *

Sadly the "unofficial" online sources were the correct ones. Naha Airport was packed to the rafters with unhappy people wanting to get off the island in a hurry.

"Don't they realize the SDF now has enough people here to keep the enemy away? Okinawa is now one of the safest places on Earth."

Miyuki made this statement very boldly for a twelve year old. Still, neither of her more knowledgeable companions refuted her words. Instead of paying her attention, they were looking up at a monitor broadcasting news.

Miyuki inhaled sharply when she finally noticed what they were seeing.

There before their eyes was video playing over and over and from different angles of the bright flash of a huge explosion. Miyuki recognized it instantly.

Material Burst.

The words of the news readers and pundits were muted, but the scrolling bars on the edges of the screen gave the general information being discussed.

GAA DENIES ALL KNOWLEDGE OF OKINAWA ATTACK, CLAIMS IT WAS JAPANESE "FALSE FLAG" OPERATION TO INITIATE A WAR OF AGGRESSION/DEBUT A NEW STRATEGIC CLASS MAGICIAN FOR INTIMIDATION PURPOSES, GAA GOVERNMENT WARNS THAT ANY AGGRESSION AGAINST GAA WILL BE MET WITH FULL POWER OF GAA MILITARY.

SDF REFUSES TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPER EXPLOSION OFF OKINAWA THAT DESTROYED ATTACKING VESSELS/POSSIBLE NEW STRATEGIC CLASS MAGICIAN.

PRIME MISTER'S OFFICE DENIES EXISTENCE OF NEW STRATEGIC CLASS MAGICIAN, USNA SECRETARY OF STATE TO HAVE EMERGENCY MEETING WITH PRIME MINISTER TODAY.

KODOU RETSU AND JUUMONJI KAZUKI IN ROUTE TO EMERGENCY MEETING OF INTERNATIONAL MAGIC ASSOCIATION TO DISCUSS APPARENT NEW STRATEGIC CLASS MAGIC/MAGICIAN IN JAPAN.

NEW SOVIET UNION DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK ON SADO ISLAND, TEN MAGIC CLANS REPRESENTATIVE ON SADO, ICHIJOU GOUKI, SAYS ENEMY FORCES ON SADO "UTTERLY ANNIHILATED".

USNA PRESIDENT CALLS FOR EMERGENCY MEETING OF NEW UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUS ATTACKS/POTENTIAL NEW STRATEGIC CLASS MAGIC USER.

REPORTS OF MYSTERIOUS MAGICIAN AT HEAD OF JAPANESE COUNTER-OFFENSIVE ON OKINAWA DEPLOYING UNKNOWN NON-STRATEGIC LEVEL "SUPER" MAGICS STILL UNSUBSTANTIATED. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUPPOSED "SUPER" MAGICS USER AND STRATEGIC CLASS EXPLOSION UNKNOWN.

"So they know about that too."

Their mother's slightly sarcastic words broke Miyuki from her stunned trance.

"So much for information control."

Her mother's second statement accompanied a very grainy long distance video showing a shorter than normal combat magician with two specialized handgun CAD's held out in each hand surrounded by enemy forces in front of him and friendly forces behind.

You couldn't make out details due to the poor quality of the long distance video, but the equipment and enemy in front of him were clearly "disappearing" in a bright flash and sudden smoke as he slowly advanced to their obvious terror. So many bullets and rockets were fired at that magician that you could barely see him behind what looked like a magic shield around him turning those projectiles into powder and dust in mid-air.

Perhaps even more disturbing, friendly forces behind him clearly hit by enemy weapons fire only seconds later rose up as if unharmed and started fighting again.

Muyuki covered her gaping mouth, which had involuntarily dropped open in astonishment. She had been in an information "cocoon" for the last few days, partly because of her mother's insistence, partly of her own volition. Now she saw the full impact that her Onii-sama had truly had on the world displayed before her stunned eyes.

Miya gently caressed her horrified daughter's hair with a reassuring smile.

"We still have hope though, right Miyuki?"

After settling her pounding heart she nodded reluctantly.

Both then turned concerned eyes towards Tatsuya, who nonchalantly turned back to them before speaking.

"Apparently our flight has only been delayed for forty minutes. That would be more than enough time for you to visit the preferred customer lounge."

Miyuki couldn't believe that her Onii-sama seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the whole world was now talking about HIM.

Miya expertly covered for her mystified daughter.

"I don't think that will be necessary. Anyway, there's probably enough "preferred customers" packing that lounge wanting off this island to make it an equally unpleasant experience. We'll wait out here."

A pair of customers had just vacated seats near them to catch their flight. Tatsuya moved to secure the seats for Miyuki and Miya, but a pair of older teens got in front of him.

They plopped themselves down and stared back with arrogant self-satisfied smirks at him. Miyuki couldn't see her Onii-sama's face, but she could see the two older teens clearly. The rapid change in their expressions could only indicate that however her Onii-sama was looking at them was making them very uncomfortable. Their pride was preventing them from moving before a younger person, but the powerful aura of her Onii-sama was overpowering them. Miyuki could feel his aura now too, as could several adults in the vicinity, many of whom started to subtly move away from the thirteen year old boy's incredibly intimidating presence.

One very large man looked on first in surprise and then in irritation. He called out to the two teens.

"You two rude bastards, get up and let those ladies have those seats!"

Having someone Miyuki thought was their father order them to be polite gave these two the chance to save some face instead of simply bowing before a much younger boy.

They moved away with what little pride they had left with apologetic bows toward Miya and Miyuki. When they got close enough to the man he smacked both lightly in the back of the head.

The ladies took their seats and Tatsuya stood beside them. Any ominous aura he had been projecting now seemed like a distant memory. Such self-control was phenomenal for even adults, but it was just who her Onii-sama is. Miyuki reached up and squeezed her Onii-sama's hand, which he returned and smiled back at her. She didn't acknowledge the still perplexed and slightly concerned occasional gazes directed in her Onii-sama's direction.

A few minutes later and whatever flight all these people in this particular sitting lounge had been waiting on began boarding. Suddenly where there had been no seats before, now there was plenty of space around them. The few people waiting on another flight, probably the same flight to Narita Airport as them, began to fill the newly available seats, but the immediate area around them remained empty, apparently for people who had not witnessed the intimidating boy minutes before.

Miyuki suddenly realized something.

"Pardon me mother, but I need to use the facilities."

By chance the entrance to the ladies room was almost directly across the walkway from their position. Miya cocked a disbelieving eye at the entrance towards that doorway and spoke.

"Well, good luck."

Their mother was no fan of public toilets, but Miyuki was in no position to be as picky at the moment. She stood and nodded lightly to their mother, then proceeded towards the walkway and the ladies room entrance beyond.

Suddenly she noticed something familiar behind her. Turning, she saw Tatsuya following her.

They stood there a few meters apart, blinking confused expressions at each other. Then sudden realization struck Miyuki's mind. Before today Tatsuya had always followed her to public restrooms and waited just outside the door.

 _"Oh God, I never…."_

Miyuki felt her facial flesh heat instantly. She had never thought about how odd having her brother "guard" her as she peed…..or worse…..was, before this week. Before he had been "Ani", her "servant"; but now, he was "ONII-SAMA".

The words both meant "brother", to a lesser and greater degree of respect; but in Miyuki's heart "Onii-sama" meant something much more than "Ani" had. Even she couldn't currently pick out what the "difference" now was, but suddenly he wasn't her servant anymore but…..

 _"…a boy."_

Her obvious sudden terrified embarrassment clearly was befuddling her Onii-sama. He started looking around her to see if somehow he had missed something significant.

Beyond his line of sight, Miyuki saw their mother cover her mouth and try to stifle her amusement; which now added frustration and anger into the mix of swirling emotions berating her daughter's startled mind.

"O-NII-SA-MA!"

Came out as half a scream and half a whisper, and dripping with frustration.

"…..Yes?"

A confused reply came back.

Miyuki hadn't really formulated a non-embarrassing response and desperately stuttered out something.

"Don't…..don't…don't leave mother by herself!"

Now he squinted at her way too loud whisper and cocked his head slightly at her.

"I can watch mother just as easily from anywhere. I always accompany you to….."

She frantically pushed out words to stop him from saying the embarrassing words he was about to say.

"Then…then…..then…then you can watch me from anywhere too!"

She spun around as fast as she could and trotted off to the ladies' room in a hurry. She had to fight the urge not to scream. She realized even as the words came out of her mouth that they were supremely wrong.

She had basically just given her brother permission to "watch" her with his "special eyes" as she did her "business".

She didn't have to turn around to know that Tatsuya was giving her a slightly awkward look, and that their mother was having to bite her lip not to laugh.

* * *

Watching his sister beat a hasty and frantic pace into the ladies' restroom, Tatsuya tried to understand what had embarrassed her so suddenly.

He always stood guard by the nearest "reasonable" doorway whenever he could have her in his "normal" eyesight.

He knew enough to know that once Miyuki hit puberty she'd finally start to realize how awkward having a boy wait for her outside of "certain places" would be for her. Still, he judged that she was too young to have noticed that kind of awkwardness yet.

 _"Is it because her feelings towards me have changed?"_

He was less than confident about this hypothesis. Her recent change of attitude towards him made Tatsuya think she would prefer more attentiveness from him, not less.

 _"But this has created the opening I needed."_

Tatsuya turned and walked up to their mother. He didn't know how long Miyuki would be, but he hoped it would be long enough.

She only looked up at him when he was almost beside her. Tatsuya judged that a public place would be best to have this conversation in, where they were in the public eye, but not in easy earshot of anyone else.

He waited to be spoken to.

"What is it?"

Only mild irritation was inflected in her words.

"I must speak with you madam."

"…..madam?"

Tatsuya had judged that when Miyuki wasn't around, their mother would probably be more comfortable with him referring to her in the previous manner. Something in her voice indicated that his assumption on this was off though. This alone provided an interesting insight.

"I thought, that when Miyuki-sama wasn't around, that you would prefer me to address you in the previous manner."

She squinted at him, but the normal "hostility" he expected was not apparent to him.

"What I'd prefer is for you to not violate your Primary's standing orders again. Whether she is present or not."

The words were rebuking as she looked away vacantly, but the way she said them lacked the normal force of her typical rebukes.

"Of course, it will not happen again…..mother."

He could tell she was working hard not to show any reaction to the word "mother".

 _"…interesting."_

"What did you want to talk about?"

Tatsuya, hands clasped behind his back in a formal manner, replied.

"First, I must have explicit permission from you to speak freely."

Now she looked up at him again with suspicion.

"You can't voice your comments in the confines of your normal service?"

"Not on this occasion, not on this topic."

She stared up at him with full suspicion showing. He looked back down at her without one flinch of doubt.

She turned away with a soft but somewhat sad expression, and then spoke.

"You have my permission to speak freely. Sit down."

Tatsuya was only surprised to be offered a seat, but he quickly took the seat Miyuki had recently vacated.

"Since I suspect you want to get this out before Miyuki returns you had best get to it."

Tatsuya didn't hesitate once. Miya looked off in the distance as he looked directly at her profile.

"Miyuki is my Primary but you are now my Secondary, either way I am Guardian for you both now, and I have certain explicit duties directly related to you both and the Family."

Miya nodded to this known fact, Tatsuya took this to indicate he should proceed.

"As YOUR Guardian now, it is my charge from the Family to protect your health and safety."

Miya tried to affect disinterest, but small tensing facial motions indicated she was somewhat uncomfortable.

"Should you place yourself in direct danger it is my duty, as your Guardian, to ignore your direct orders and stop you."

He knew he was correct, it was the one time a Guardian not only could ignore their Master's commands, they HAD to ignore their Master's commands.

Miya was having a hard time covering her discomfort now. Even untrained eyes would see she was perturbed now.

"You know this is the standing orders of a Guardian. Why are we discussing this?"

She was trying to effect irritation with him, but Tatsuya could sense there was something deeper she was trying to hide under her perturbed attitude.

"I do not feel I can speak with you frankly, as your Guardian, if I do not hear you explicitly acknowledge a Guardian's standing orders from the Family in relation to the preservation of the health and safety of their Primary, or in this case, their Secondary."

She wouldn't look directly at him and bore her normally "empty" eyes into him. That alone told him he was in the dominant position now. Still, she vocalized her attempts at invoking anger.

"Then perhaps we should not have this conversation at all?"

"No mother…."

His way too calm retort broke any attempt to fain further anger with him. She even momentarily looked genuinely surprised by him.

"…..we will have this conversation."

The powerful aura he had radiated against the two teens before was now focused solely on their mother. She had obviously never felt this before. He had, at least to his knowledge, always meekly obeyed her will before now.

"We will either have it now, alone, between us only."

He knew that in a few moments everyone else around them would feel his menacing aura again too. Unwanted eyes would bear down on them. Now there was a "time limit" adding pressure to his mother as well.

"Or we can wait for my Primary to return and discuss in front of Miyuki."

Miya inhaled slowly three times in a row as her thirteen year old son's eyes bore into her profile. When she finally reopened her eyes, she spoke again.

"I acknowledge that there are situations where your duty to me as my Guardian would require you to disobey me."

She still wouldn't look at him, but for Tatsuya that was immaterial to this discussion.

"You have used a magic, recently, that has compromised your health to the point that you will die nearly three years earlier than before you used this magic."

Miya remained silent, her eyes never turning towards him. He knew he "had" her now.

"Since I have no memory of you using any magic, and I am obviously particularly well equipped to know when magic is used even after the fact, I can only assume you used this magic on me for some purpose that also prevents me from detecting it."

He could detect the light facial movements of her muscles around the mouth and eyes. She was good, a normal person wouldn't be unable to detect that she was even interested in the conversation.

"Until this week I had only circumstantial evidence to back up my assumption. Your dwindling life energy wasn't dissipating at a rate where I could point to a specific example as the cause."

Brief silence hung in the air before Tatsuya broke it.

"Before I went into the guardhouse with you, you had three more years to live; and afterwards you had three less."

She breathed harder but still would not acknowledge his words were bothering her in the least.

"Why are you killing yourself by using a magic on me to make me forget things?"

A small smile crept across her face then. It was so small it could be mistaken for nothing at all, but Tatsuya could see it. She then turned towards him and their eyes locked. Something in those cold and empty eyes he had expected to see blazed warm and true. He assumed this was simply his imagination over working, but still, her look to him was almost kind…..almost….loving?

"Why ask a question you know I will never answer?"

She then turned back away from him to stare out at the aircraft beyond the observation windows of the lounge again.

"You have all the piece to your puzzle now. No one was ever better equipped to solve such riddles. Surely you have some hypothesis already developed?"

She turned back towards him with that same unnerving "warmth" he felt before. She was obviously waiting for his answer. It was true that he had already developed a few theories about what could be so important that she would sacrifice her own life for; but the more plausible reasons all went against his entire life experience with this woman.

"I have some theories, but that is not important now."

He had an important mission to accomplish here. He also thought that if he got "too close" to the truth it would result in his mother attempting to use the mystery magic on him again.

He was only temporarily perplexed to see her turn back away with what seemed to be slight disappointment.

"Using this magic has cost you a great advantage. You are no longer able to use Gate on me."

Now her slight facial movements went back to showing concern. Slowly she cut her eyes sideways at her son.

"You, alone, can no longer stop me should I 'lose control'."

He was simply stating facts. There was no hidden agenda to his words. He only wanted to reset the "chess board" with the pieces each player now possessed in hand.

"Of course you had to know this would be the result of your over-use of this magic."

"Is there a question in here for me Tatsuya, or do you simply want to impress upon me the new order of things?"

He honestly shook his head sideways at this.

"There's no question. There however is a statement."

She turned again to look at her young son.

"As your Guardian, I cannot allow you to use this magic or any other ever again. Your health is too compromised. I merely wanted to make you aware that I can now prevent you from damaging your health further with its usage."

Then he tilted his head slightly and continued.

"Having seen the cost to you on the day of the attack, when you used the magic again to alter my memories of my trip back to the hill top, I was prepared."

She blinked with mild confusion at these words. But he explained.

"I have designed a software package that I included in the new OS I wrote for the CAD the Major gave me."

Her brows furrowed at him now without attempting to hide her true emotions.

"While no where near as efficient as my own activation sequence reading abilities, it did record enough of your activation sequence to give me a good picture of the magic you have been using on me."

He had expected her to become angry, but to open her mouth in shock without attempting to cover it was truly unexpected. She then reached to him and took both his shoulders in her arms.

"Please, I beg you, destroy this activation sequence. You must know how dangerous it is if…."

She had never spoken to him this way before, at least that he could remember.

"Please calm down mother. This is not like you."

She calmed herself slightly then, but her concern was still obvious.

"As I stated, it is not as efficient as my own sequence reading abilities. It only recorded enough to allow me to disable the sequence next time you attempt to use it."

Now she was obviously angry.

"So you told me this to threaten me?"

"Of course not. I simply wanted you to understand that now that you can't use Gate on me, I also have a counter measure for your mind altering magic as well."

"And your intent with all of this?"

He forcefully softened his own expressions to try to placate her near frantic state.

"To show you that even attempting to use your magic now would be pointless. As your Guardian, I will protect you from now on. As your Guardian, I will not allow you to use magic again, because it will kill you."

She calmed slightly at these words.

"And as Miyuki's Onii-sama, I will not allow her mother to die any sooner than she already is."

Silence hung in the air again briefly, then Tatsuya saw Miya murmur.

"….as Miyuki's mother?"

He couldn't escape the feeling that somehow he had saddened Miya with his words, which was not his intention at all.

Shiba Miya was already considered by her severely estranged son to be the single most complicated human he had ever met. Her motivations and her actions were more often than not in conflict with her statements and attitude. She often perplexed him beyond his current comprehension skills.

 _"To waste her life energy on me, when spending more time with Miyuki would clearly be more beneficial to the child she cares about?"_

This week had only redoubled the mystery behind the woman he now was to call "mother".

She turned to him again.

"On one condition, I will cooperate and stop using my magic entirely."

Tatsuya nodded and she continued.

"You must destroy every piece of that activation sequence you have recorded. Even parts of it are dangerous. If it fell into the wrong hands…"

"I am aware of its dangers, now. I will destroy it."

Miya was visibly relieved. His next words tensed her again.

"Once you are dead."

She looked off into space as if she could see her own death standing before her. Again, she perplexed her son with her sudden emotionalism.

She nodded her consent, and just in time. Tatsuya could detect Miyuki was about to leave the ladies room.

Then in a soft voice, after a long pause, his mother surprised him with a truly unexpected question.

"Did you ever consider….."

He turned to see her still looking off to the horizon at only something she seemed able to see.

"…that I used this magic on you, for your benefit?"

A strange feeling began to grow inside Tatsuya's mind with these words, but his concentration was broken by concerned words from behind him.

"Mother, Onii-sama, is everything alright?"

They both turned to see Miyuki standing over them with concern on her face. They had not finished their "awkward" conversation quickly enough.

"Everything is fine Miyuki."

The cold woman Tatsuya was so used to, had returned to the weakening body of his mother in an instant.

Miyuki now directed a concerned look towards her Onii-sama. Determined not to worry her needlessly, he smiled back, stood up, and allowed her to retake her seat.

"Our flight should be boarding soon."

A statement of fact to try to relieve Miyuki's concerns. He judged the effort was only seventy percent successful by her facial expressions.

Standing beside them now, Tatsuya's attention was suddenly drawn to a bit of drama occurring at the flight counter.

"I don't want to leave daddy behind!"

A little girl, about six or seven years old, was crying in her mother's arms and reaching desperately for her nearby father.

Both parents were also clearly near tears, as were the two ticket agents at the counter.

"Again sir, we are terribly sorry but this flight is full. We can upgrade two of you to this flight, but otherwise you'll have to wait again for the next flight."

The father hung his head as his wife tried to mollify their frantic child.

Tatsuya of course was unsure why this family was trying to get off the island earlier than their scheduled flight, but that was immaterial. With his next words the father indicated that he clearly valued getting his wife and daughter off this island more than having them all make it off at the same time.

He leaned over to his wife and smiled reassuringly, then lightly stroked his terrified daughter's head.

"I need you to be brave for daddy. Mommy is going to need you to keep her spirits up for the flight home."

"NO DADDY! NO!"

She clutched desperately to her father's shirt as he enveloped her and her mother in his arms.

Tatsuya knew that children weren't logical creatures by their natures. It didn't matter to this girl that Okinawa was probably one of the safest places on the planet right now. All that mattered to her, was bad men had attacked this place and now they were going to leave her daddy behind in what to her was still a dangerous place.

Tatsuya scanned the crowd as the parents tried to convince their daughter with soothing platitudes to be brave and calm down.

This display was having an obvious effect on everyone. Several women were already crying in sympathetic response. A few men looked close to losing their composure as well. Tatsuya judged that most of these were probably fathers themselves.

 _"I wonder what it's like, to experience love from a parent? Or love for a parent?"_

Then he heard sobbing beside him. The scene had clearly touched Miyuki as well. Even their mother seemed unusually interested in what was going on.

 _"I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that she can display some concern, even for strangers."_

Tatsuya reached into his pocket for his handkerchief, but stopped midway through the motion. The little girl's next sad words had an unexpected effect on him.

"DON'T LET ME GO DADDY! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!"

It almost felt like someone punched him in the gut. He even inhaled hard involuntarily.

"Sweetie please, I don't want to let you and your mommy go, but I'll only be right behind you, I promise."

Nothing the man or his wife said to their daughter would sate her fears.

"NO! THE BAD MEN WILL GET YOU! NO!"

Tatsuya couldn't process why he was having…..difficulty…over this scene now, but something inside of him told him he had to do something.

Then clarity struck his mind like a thunderbolt.

"…Honami."

Miyuki and Miya turned at him suddenly calling out Hinami's name. Instead of his handkerchief, he pulled his data terminal out of his pocket. He looked down at it. Listed were the electronic boarding passes for two first class tickets, and two coach tickets.

"Mother…."

He turned with these words to find the concerned expression Miya was direct at the little girl before already looking back at him.

 _"Has she been watching me this whole time?"_

Now Miyuki looked with saddened and slightly tear stained eyes at him before redirecting them to their mother.

"I know what you want to do. You have my permission."

He was momentarily surprised, but nodded.

He then took out his handkerchief and handed it to his perplexed sister. Then as she wiped her tears, he showed her his data terminal.

"Let's give them Honami's ticket."

Instant joy flashed on Miyuki's face.

"OH YES ONII-SAMA!"

She turned happy eyes to their lightly smiling mother, who nodded.

Miyuki went to stand, but Miya lightly held her down.

"You give it to them, alone...son."

Both Miyuki and Tatsuya looked at their mother strangely. She was looking at Tatsuya in a way that he couldn't process. Suddenly Miyuki turned an even brighter smile to him and nodded.

"We'll watch from here Onii-sama."

Tatsuya nodded and moved in the direction of the family.

 _"Somehow Miyuki understood mother in that moment, but I could not."_

This wasn't the first time this had happened, and probably wouldn't be the last. Daughter and mother shared….something…an emotion? It was something he could not understand himself. His limitations bothered him again.

Then he noticed a very intent pair of small tear stained eyes boring into him. Those eyes followed him diligently as he approached. Suddenly the parents of the owners of those eyes realized their terrified daughter had stopped….everything. They soon followed those eyes and saw a thirteen year old boy stop beside them and bow courteously.

"Pardon me sir, madam, but we have an extra ticket we can't use, we'd like you to have it."

They looked past him to see a graceful woman and her beautifully pristine daughter smile and nod to them.

The mother and father were momentarily struck speechless, but their daughter couldn't take her eyes off Tatsuya. In that brief silence, Tatsuya let his "special eyes" wonder.

"….interesting."

He smiled lightly at the little girl, who only became slightly bashful while smiling back. Still, she couldn't take her eyes off him.

"I…we…oh yes, thank you! Thank you very much!"

"Oh my God! Thank you so much!"

Both parents nodded eagerly and gratefully to Tatsuya and back towards Miya and Miyuki.

"How much do you want for it?"

Tatsuya shook his head at the father's question.

"There is no cost sir. We were in a position to help, and glad to do so."

The man and his wife were flabbergasted at the generosity. They again bowed towards the two ladies on the bench. The ticket was transferred and everyone who witnessed the scene seemed much happier and relieved afterwards.

The family came over and verbally thanked Miya, but she refused their gratitude.

"I had completely forgotten that we had the extra ticket. It was…..my son, who suggested it."

Miyuki kept smiling as the little girl continued to stare in wonder at Tatsuya and occasionally at her too.

The parents' praise to Miya about how courteous, thoughtful, and polite her son was filled Miyuki's heart with joy; but none of that could match hearing her mother's agreement to those words.

"He certainly has not disappointed us."

Miyuki almost cried when she heard these words of praise spoken so freely for her Onii-sama in public from their mother. She turned stunned and excited eyes to her beloved brother. It was rare to see him stunned, but it was clear he was truly befuddled to hear Miya praise him.

When the family finally moved away to celebrate their good fortunes with happy hugs, Miyuki saw the little girl still couldn't take her eyes off her Onii-sama.

"I think Onii-sama has a new admirer."

Miyuki smiled teasingly up at her brother.

Tatsuya smirked only slightly embarrassed back at her.

Then Miyuki saw her mother's lips move soundlessly.

"That makes two now."

Expecting her daughter to blush, Miyuki mildly surprised her with a head nod instead.

After a few more moments Miya spoke to Tatsuya.

"Did you notice?"

"Yes."

"Notice what?"

Miyuki was perplexed by their sudden conversation.

"The little girl."

Miya and Tatsuya's eyes went back to the little girl who still couldn't take her eyes off Tatsuya.

"What about her?"

"She's a magician."

Miya and Tatsuya looked surprised to have spoken the same words at the same time. Miyuki had to suppress a giggle, which drew a disapproving eye raise from their mother.

Then Miyuki formed soundless words with her lips.

"So much alike."

Miya turned away from her with mild irritation, then she spoke again.

"The parents are normal though. Perhaps some distant ancestor, or just an unexpected mutation."

Their mother's words were a statement, but Tatsuya answered as if it were a question.

"It is an ancestor."

Tatsuya said so without hesitation as he stood beside them.

"How did you draw that conclusion?"

Miya's question held genuine curiosity. Tatsuya turned to answer her.

"Her unborn brother, is also a magician."

Miyuki was again stunned at the utility of Elemental Sight.

"I see…."

Miya seemed not the least surprised.

A few moments later, lost in her happy thoughts, Tatsuya spoke to Miyuki

"It's time."

She smiled up happily at him as she took his offered hand

"Of course Onii-sama."

He gently helped her to her feet.

The lady's voice from the boarding desk called out.

"Flight 1987 to Tokyo Narita is now boarding first class passengers at gate 23."

Onii-sama had once again known ahead of time, as expected. He now offered the same hand to their mother. Then Miyuki walked with their mother to the boarding line. Tatsuya would board with the coach class passengers near the end. Miyuki hadn't been naive enough to think she could fly home next to Onii-sama, especially since their mother still wasn't in perfect health, far from it. Still, parting with him, even for a few hours, was now a very unpleasant feeling.

"Mother….."

Both women were surprised when Tatsuya called out to them.

"You had asked me a question earlier which I had not answered."

Miyuki didn't remember any unanswered questions, but clearly her mother did. She nodded towards him, and Miyuki suspected she was very interested in the answer.

Tatsuya looked slightly thoughtful as he replied.

"Despite all my previous experiences to the contrary being much more likely. That it was indeed for my own benefit..."

He looked like he didn't believe what he was about to say. That he couldn't believe it.

"…is the only…logical possibility."

A small smile broke across their mother's face. She nodded lightly towards her somewhat confused looking son, and then turned around to board the plane.

Miyuki, who could only spare a brief questioning glance with her Onii-sama, had to hurry to follow their mother.

Once alone on the boarding ramp Miyuki spoke.

"What was that about mother?"

Miya didn't turn around as she replied.

"I'll tell you about it on the flight home."

Miyuki, now that she had Miya alone, couldn't contain herself.

"I was very happy when you let Onii-sama give that little girl's parents Honami's ticket."

Miya smiled slightly then.

"I knew you would be, it was also the right thing to do."

Miyuki smiled more.

"I like the way you looked at him to, when he was doing it."

Miya smirked at that.

"You read too much into things sometimes."

The light rebuke didn't stop Miyuki at all.

"Perhaps, but not that."

"So you think you can read my mind now?"

Despite the attempt otherwise, there was no real sound of chastisement in her mother's response.

"It's only fair. You have been reading my mind since I was born."

Miya chuckled lightly, which made Miyuki smile even brighter.

They boarded the plane and took their seats in first class. All medium to large commercial airline planes in this era would be considered "wide-bodies". First class had its own boarding door off of the same boarding ramp as the coach section. First class on even medium sized aircraft had two aisles with two seats on the port side of the plane, two seats between the aisles and one seat beside the starboard windows. The starboard side single seats were what were now called "business class."

Miyuki took the port side window seat and her mother sat in the aisle seat. From her window, she would see her Onii-sama boarding through the windows of the boarding ramp in a few minutes.

"Even if you can't say it, or show him, at least not directly, I am glad to know how much you love Onii-sama, and how proud of him you really are."

Miyuki was mildly surprised when Miya lightly grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I can tell you now though. Now that you know my big secret, and have promised to keep it with me."

Miyuki nodded. She and her mother had forged a new bond, with a new and great secret shared between them. A secret that she hoped one day their mother would tell her Onii-sama herself.

A few seconds later Miyuki spoke again.

"That's why you let him give that family Honami's ticket. So Onii-sama could be the center of attention."

Miya exhaled lightly before replying.

"Perhaps we can read each other's minds after all?"

They exchanged knowing smirks now.

"All these people may never have the honor of knowing that it was your brother that saved all their lives."

Miyuki laid her head on her mother's shoulder, and switched hands so she could get closer.

"But for one very frightened little girl, Shiba Tatsuya will always be the true Hero of Okinawa."

They sat there in silence for several moments, then Miyuki voiced her heart's feelings.

"I love you very much momma."

Miya sighed lightly before replying.

"And I love, and am very proud, of both my wonderful children."

* * *

 _"Why did she let me keep the memory of placing my arms into Honami's funeral pyre?"_

Tatsuya had been the last to board, except for perhaps a last minute arrival or two. He could use his Elemental Sight from anywhere, but he preferred to examine each passenger as they boarded. It would be easier to stop potential threats from inside the airport instead of inside the aircraft.

 _"All the other memories had to be related to emotions I should no longer experience, but why let me keep that one, if all the other's required her to reduce her lifespan to remove them?"_

Now with his single duffel bag slung over his shoulder he walked down the boarding ramp alone. He turned to his left to see a happy face in a window waving at him. He smiled happily to his sister and waved back.

 _"She can't read my own false masks yet."_

His smile hid his concerns. After this week the enigma hidden behind the name Shiba Miya had only become more complex to him. He had just confronted her about the magic she had been using on him, apparently for years, that was also killing her.

 _"If she is so ashamed of me, why die for my sake?"_

Tatsuya felt he was uniquely not equipped to understand his mother's conflicting and life altering decision making process. Now that their relationship had improved significantly, he wondered if he could get Miyuki to get the answers he needed subtly from Miya.

 _"I'll have to move fast, time is running out."_

Elemental Sight wasn't perfect, but even if Miya never used magic again, as she had promised him, it was doubtful she'd live another two years. Then Miyuki's sorrow would be many times greater than it had been this week. His mind was now focused solely on concern for Miyuki. It never even occurred to him that he should also look towards that future date with dread and sadness.

She had designed him not to love her, after all. Only….Miyuki.

Once he boarded the aircraft and approached his assigned seat, he noticed there were two familiar adults and a flight attendant looking down tepidly where his seat were.

"Sweetie, wouldn't it be better to sit back here with mommy? You don't want mommy to be all alone, do you?"

He had yet to hear the shy and crying little girl's voice before. He was surprised to hear such resolve from such a tiny person as she replied to her mother.

"NO, daddy will keep mommy company!"

Both parents sighed then with a look of "it can't be helped" on their faces.

"I'm sorry folks but it's almost time for everyone to take their seats."

To the flight attendant, the parents could only sympathetically share her concerns.

Next the father tried to convince her.

"But what if you get scared up here by yourself sweetie?"

"Don't be silly daddy, I fly all the time and mommy and you are just three seats back. I'm sitting with the boy!"

It was only then that they all noticed Tatsuya standing there.

"Oh, hello again, sorry about this."

Tatsuya only smiled back at them and nodded.

The father scratched at the back of his head as he spoke next.

"For some reason Mikeko has suddenly become very obstinate. She wants to sit with you apparently."

Tatsuya smiled back at the wide-eyed girl, then to her parents.

"I don't mind sir, I'm sure we'll be fine together."

He nodded to the girl, Mikeko, who nodded enthusiastically back.

The parents still looked unconvinced. The mother spoke next.

"Are you sure, she can be a real handful when she gets going?"

The daughter turned a look back to her mother with an expression of pure betrayal.

"I'm good all the time mommy!"

Both parents smiled with less than full belief on their faces back down at their protesting little girl, who pouted angrily with her arms crossed back at them.

Tatsuya could tell by the look of frustration on the flight attendant's face that this had gone on long enough.

"I'm sure we'll be fine sir, your seats are right there?"

Indicating with his eyes the only two empty seats left on the plane just three rows back, the parents both nodded.

"Can I have the window?"

"Mikeko, don't be so rude!"

Tatsuya cracked a genuine smile then.

"That will be fine with me."

Tatsuya always preferred the aisle seat since it gave him better access to deal with any potential threats that might develop during flight.

Still not entirely convinced, the parents acquiesced to their daughter's demands.

"You had better be on your best behavior young lady."

"Of course mommy!"

Mikeko looked downright offended by her mother's admonishment. Both parents smiled down helplessly at their brooding daughter and shook their heads.

"We're back here if you need anything. Don't hesitate if she causes you any issue."

Now Mikeko looked truly betrayed by her father's words. Tatsuya couldn't help but smile at her reactions.

"Of course sir, but I'm sure we'll be fine."

The mother confirmed Mikeko's belt was fastened and then both parents thanked Tatsuya again before taking their seats. Once Tatsuya had stowed his duffel bag in the overhead bin he took the aisle seat and fastened his belt.

He and the girl exchanged smiles, she was staring at him much more intently than even Miyuki now does. Had he had normal emotions he might have felt awkward in the light of that admiring gaze.

He looked ahead to where the small display screen in the headrest in front of him was showing general boarding info. He then spread out his special vision. All of the aircraft's mechanical parts seemed to be in working order. All the passengers seemed to be of the same general physical level expected for a pe-flight situation. Nothing stood out in the Eidos as a potential threat to this flight.

Beside him a quiet "ahhhhhh" could be heard. Tatsuya turned curious eyes back to the little girl beside him. Her eyes were even wider than before.

"Do it again, please."

He blinked at her sudden request.

"Do what again?"

She smirked at him then.

"That pretty magic, it's the same one you used in the airport. It's so pretty, show me again please."

It was Tatsuya's turned to be amazed. There seemed no point in subterfuge at this moment, she had correctly identified he had used Elemental Sight twice.

One of Elemental Sight's greatest advantages was that it was extremely difficult for even other magicians to detect. This was because it wasn't really a "magic" itself, just the ability to read the Eidos information dimension that on some level was available to all human's subconscious minds, but in greater detail.

 _"For her to have detected it….she must be very magic sensitive."_

He smirked at her then.

"You must be magic sensitive."

She blushed a bit, then nodded back.

"The men at the clinic said I was rare."

Organized teaching of magicians in this country had only reached down to the high school level. The main reason was that most magic children were descendants of the Ten Master Clans, the Hundred Families, or longstanding Ancient Magic user clans. All of these had developed their own in house training regimes for their younger children.

Before the advent of Modern Magic, normal parents who discovered their child suddenly had a miraculous talent would generally turn to the temples and priests for answers; and those children most likely would then find themselves as disciples or acolytes in their local temples, where they would learn to master their special powers in secret.

When magic became public knowledge almost one hundred years ago, suddenly governments got involved and this lead to "scientifically" developed magic and magicians. Now those modern magic families also run their own training regimes for their children, but few take in non-family members for training. One well known exception were the so-called Sword Magicians of the Hundred Families' Chiba Clan, who not only trained military and police magicians, but also took in exceptional children for more intense training along the same general model of the Ancient Magic houses.

The result is that basic magic education currently had no large calling for government organization in Japan, and thus magic education started at the top level, like the National Magic University; and has only now reached into the secondary level of education with the Magic University supported Magic High Schools. There was no great calling yet for Magic Middle Schools or Elementary Schools; but eventually Tatsuya suspected that as the number of magicians being born expanded, eventually the "private" magic education system would become overwhelmed, and eventually turn to the government for assistance or at least relief of their education burdens.

The Japan Branch of the International Magic Association actively worked to bridge the "magic education gap" in this country by running magic clinics to identify young "random" magicians as early as possible, and to funnel them into after school magic programs like the Magic Scouts program. The clinic Mikeko referred to was certainly one such IMAJ operated clinic.

"He's right, you have a very special talent."

Mikeko blushed at Tatsuya's words. She reminded him very much of Miyuki at that moment. It was exactly how she now reacted when he praised her.

"Oh, pardon my rudeness, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Shiba Tatsuya."

He extended his hand to her and she grabbed it with both of hers.

"I'm Sachiko Mikeko, I'm six years old but I will be seven next month."

Tatsuya nodded with a smile to her.

"How old are you?"

"I'm thirteen."

Her face displayed an "oh" expression perfectly.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is your pilot speaking, weather between here and Tokyo….."

The aircraft had long since left the terminal and had now taxied all the way to the runway. The pilot announced they were about to take off. Mikeko didn't seem the least put off by this as some children would be. She stared out the window toward the wing with building excitement.

"You live in Tokyo?"

She nodded enthusiastically to him.

"You?"

"I also live in the capital."

She seemed to perk up additionally at this news. Perhaps she thought that they would become friends now that they lived "close" to each other. Tokyo was big enough that outside of a few blocks from your house, nothing truly seemed "close" in the city.

 _"Isn't she an interesting one?"_

Tatsuya couldn't help but think so as young Mikeko giggled with delight as the aircraft accelerated to takeoff speed. She never took her eager eyes off the wing. The second the feeling of the aircraft's rear wheels leaving the ground could be detected, she let out a sound.

"SWOOOOOOOSH! We're a bird now!"

She held her arms out to her sides like she was a bird herself.

For some reason seemingly beyond his control Tatsuya actually laughed mildly at her reaction. This had clearly been something her parents taught her to overcome the normal anxiety that most children experience before flight. It was apparently, for Mikeko, very effective. She seemed to love flying.

She turned questioning eyes to him.

"Can magic make you fly? I want to fly like a bird one day, soaring through the skies."

He smiled back at her, here arms still spread like wings.

"While there is currently no progress in developing flying magic, it's theoretically possible to achieve. I am certain that we will see it in our lifetimes."

Her eyes were big as sauces.

"You're real smart, aren't you?"

Tatsuya realized he might have just used a term that might be beyond first grade level knowledge. He somewhat contritely answered her question.

"I do well in school."

"I know."

And with that confident declaration she turned her eyes out to see the world shrinking beneath her.

"Maybe you'll make flying magic one day! You're real smart, I'm sure you could do it."

She was genuinely entertaining him. He smiled back to her.

"Perhaps, or maybe you will."

She smirked at him, she obviously thought he was teasing her. Then she grew serious.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Tatsuya nodded. She had already asked him a few, one more couldn't hurt.

"Why do you hide your magic?"

Genuine curiosity stared back at him.

 _"Maybe she's too magic sensitive?"_

Tatsuya felt a bit awkward having a little girl being able to read his psion intensity so easily. Still, she already apparently knew, and she couldn't use this particular information against him in his estimation.

"What makes you think I'm hiding it?"

He asked her with a smile.

She looked at him with sympathy, and then patted his forearm.

"I can feel it. Your Imouto is like a shining star. Her psions are like a blinding light."

Then she looked away sadly.

"But you force your light into a box around you. You only let it out when you have to."

Then she turned bright eyes to him again.

"But I can feel it! If your sister is the brightest star, you're the sun!"

Tatsuya was truly shocked by Mikeko's words. Seeing this she pulled back.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean….."

"It's alright Mikeko."

He managed a smile for her.

"You asked me why I hide it?"

She nodded back tepidly.

"Magic is a great responsibility. Those of us with particularly special gifts have an obligation to use them properly and for the benefit of others in need."

Practically word for word the motto of the International Magic Association.

"You have a special gift, that you must learn to properly master. Once you have, you can use it to help other people in need."

She nodded her understanding, even at this age she should have already been well familiar with this concept.

"Like you, I have a special gift. To properly master my special gift, I must only use it at the right time. If I can't control it, it will control me. Part of learning to control it is to learn how to control my psions to the utmost. Each magician is different, but for my special gift, this is how I learn to master it."

She smiled and nodded to him. She readily accepted his answer. It was all the truth, but it did not contain nearly all of the truth that was Shiba Tatsuya's burden to carry in this life.

"Your mommy is a magician too?"

Tatsuya was glad for her redirect of the topic.

"Yes, she is."

Suddenly Mikeko grew sad.

"She was once powerful like your Imouto, but not anymore."

 _"Yes, young Mikeko is a bit too good at reading other's psions."_

Perhaps sitting beside this little girl was a mistake.

"Yes, she was once very strong in magic."

Then to his surprise Mikeko placed her hand on top of his.

"My grandpa had to go away too, but he told me before he left that he would always be with me, and one day I would see him again. Your mommy will always be with you too."

 _"Damn, she can tell mother is dying too?"_

Tatsuya was amazed at this little magician. It was no wonder why she had zeroed in on him when she first saw him. It never occurred to Tatsuya that in the privacy of his own mind he had just referred to Miya as "mother".

"SO don't be sad Tatsuya-kun, your mommy loves you a lot."

He knew he should just accept her platitude with a smile. The reassuring words children are taught and parrot as universal truths, but Mikeko was so different from other little girls he had met, he had to let his curiosity wonder.

"Does she, why do you say that?"

He expected something like "she's your mommy" or "all mommies love their children".

Again, she surprised him.

"She looks at you with pride, and she smiles at you when you aren't looking, and….."

She seemed reluctant to continue.

"Go on, it's okay."

She looked back at him with his encouraging words.

"Her psions are the same as yours. Her love flows in her psions to you."

Tatsuya knew psions didn't work this way, but he also now knew Mikeko's ability to read psions was beyond his current understanding. He couldn't just dismiss her assertions without investigation. She was certainly very confident in her statements about it.

"She's giving you her last remaining psions. That's a lot of love."

A tear ran down her cheek. Tatsuya instinctively removed his handkerchief for her.

"Yes…..that certainly is….a lot."

He knew his words were weak sounding. He couldn't say the word "love" in relation to his mother, it was beyond him to think of that woman in that way. Mikeko took his handkerchief and smiled as she wiped her eyes.

"I can tell, she worries about you a lot."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing and who he was hearing it from.

"Your Imouto loves you a lot too!"

She said this sudden statement with emphasis.

"A REAL lot!"

Tatsuya smiled at her.

"Her psions touch you all the time!"

She seemed astounded, and perturbed by this.

"Touch?"

She nodded at his one word question.

"The farther away from her you are, the more her psions try to touch you. It's weird."

When she said it was "weird" she pouted in frustration.

"You're her brother…right?"

Tatsuya smirked curiously at these words.

"Yes, we have both of the same parents."

Mikeko didn't seem convinced.

"You and your mommy don't look like her. If you both didn't have those big psion amounts I'd think she was adopted."

Tatsuya couldn't help but laugh a little. This wasn't the first time someone thought Miyuki was too pretty to be his sister.

"You look just like your mommy. Does your imouto look like your daddy?"

That was the first time he had been asked that.

He smiled at her again.

"No, Miyuki is special. She got all of the good looks in the family."

"No she didn't!"

Right after saying this, Mikeko turned around in obvious embarrassment. It was a little awkward to be flirted with by a six, soon to be seven, year old; but unlike most boys his age Tatsuya was beyond being embarrassed by such things.

"Thank you for saying so."

After a long silence, the embarrassed Mikeko asked another question.

"Miyuki?"

"Yes, that's my Imouto's name."

Mikeko nodded, but scrunched her face up.

"Still, she touches you a lot for a sister. It's weird."

Mikeko was still pouting over it. Tatsuya certainly had never heard of psion touching before today, but it was clearly a "real" concept to young Mikeko. Perhaps Miyuki's "psion touching" of him made Mikeko jealous? He assumed as much and also that Miyuki's sudden change of heart about him might produce the "weird" amount of "touching" Mikeko was feeling. It did seem like in Mikeko's mind psion touching was the same thing as real touching. Certainly if Miyuki was all over him even he would have thought it was odd himself.

She turned disbelieving eyes back to him again.

"You sure? Real sure?"

Tatsuya nodded with a smile back to her again. She seemed to reluctantly accept they were "real" brother and sister after all.

"Look!"

Tatsuya obeyed and looked over her head and out the window.

The aircraft had looped around the southern end of the island and was now flying parallel to Okinawa's west coastline, the site of the attacks. After a quick glance Tatsuya noticed the shoreline that only earlier that week had been the site of the battle. The scars across the land showing where battle had taken place were still visible if you looked hard enough. Tatsuya was particularly surprised that he could recognize the hill they had retreated to, to avoid the Tsunami wave.

He could feel the little girl beside him tense up, then she slowly turned stunned eyes back to him.

"What is it?"

She pointed down towards the beach, towards the general area of the place where Tatsuya had used Material Burst.

"...You were there."

She had surprised him a lot today, but nothing like this.

 _"There's no way she should know that."_

Psion sensitive or not, they were kilometers up in the air and kilometers away. No magician, especially this young, should be able to detect magic from this far away, and many days later.

But when that magic is something as power as Material Burst…could someone like her see it even under these circumstances?

 _"How can she tell it was me?"_

Many dark and terrible thoughts filled his mind suddenly. If this little girl's knowledge of him, of what he had done were known by some other people, this girl and her family might….

He couldn't let that happen. That was something even an emotionless automaton like him couldn't live with.

"Mikeko-chan…"

Applying the "chan" honorific was something Tatsuya rarely did. He was going to try to convince her she was wrong. Surprisingly she didn't let him even try.

"Don't worry."

She touched his forearm again.

"I didn't see anything Tatsuya-kun."

The look on her face was pure adoration. She even looked like she was going to cry. She knew, but she was promising to forget without being asked to. She couldn't possibly know the danger she and her family was in because of this. She was agreeing to forget what she knew with no fear of reprisal.

She was doing so for his sake alone.

 _"For your sake alone."_

Those words called out to him from nowhere. A pinch of pain reached into his chest. He could have sworn the voice in his head for those words was Honami's.

Mikeko then reached into her bag under the chair in front of her and pulled out a data terminal.

After a few moments she handed it to Tatsuya. A very grainy video was playing. It was the same video he had watched on news feeds in the airport less than an hour before.

"The Boy in Black!"

Mikeko said those words with a reverence reserved for speaking the name of a God. Her eyes never looked away from Tatsuya. The faith of a "true-believer" shown in those young, adoring eyes. Tatsuya wanted to turn away from that look desperately.

"Yes, I saw this footage in the airport. It's probably not a boy though, maybe a small soldier or even a female soldier."

He said this with a reassuring smile to her.

She shook her head at that with confidence.

"No, it's a boy. All the news people says so."

 _"Damn."_

"Look."

She pointed at the video. Behind the "boy" his colleagues rose, in front of him his enemies disappeared before him. Even he had to admit it was an incredible thing to witness.

 _"Is that really...me?"_

Doubt filled his heart. No doubt at all was shown in the happy eyes looking back towards him.

"He lifts up his friends in his left hand! And smites the bad men with his right! He's the greatest magician in all the world!"

 _"….a true-believer."_

Miyuki had made the same claim about him. Mikeko looked at him with the same eyes Miyuki had.

"They say he made the Big BOOM too! Do you think he did?"

This was a very bad situation. He could cover this up by forgetting this episode in his own mind, then as long as Mikeko continued to fain ignorance too she would be safe.

But if Miya somehow used her magic on him without him having time to destroy the Activation Sequence….

No, he wouldn't let that happen.

"It may well be a boy, he may well have made the Big Boom; but if he did, it is obviously vital for Japan to hide his identity from the enem…..from the bad men. It would be very bad if anyone, even someone's friends or parents, ever learned anything about him. Anyone who even thought they knew who he was would have to never tell another soul. It would be so very bad for everyone if they did."

Sensing how pertinent his words to her were, Mikeko sat back in her seat with a tepid look.

"Don't worry, if someone knew who he was, she'd never tell anyone, ever."

She smiled weakly then, near tears.

"She'd never betray him. He saved everyone's lives. He saved HER life! She'd protect him, she promises."

He smiled down at her and touched the top of her hand.

"I'm sure if he knew he had such a loyal and trustworthy friend as her, he would be truly grateful to her forever."

She smiled brightly back at him. They now shared a great secret between them. He hoped for her sake she would keep her promise. He secretly promised to do all he could to help her keep it.

After a long silence, she spoke again.

"What happened to your Onee-chan?"

A sudden emptiness seemed to expand around him. He could literally feel the recent absence of her presence from his life at that moment. It was as if everyone in this aircraft had disappeared except for him and little Mikeko.

He knew he should lie. He knew it would be the best option. Children are often relieved by simple little lies that help to preserve their innocence against this complex and often cruel existence.

Yet he knew that this amazingly gifted and perceptive little girl would see right through it.

And what's more, for some inexplicable reason that even he couldn't explain, he wanted to tell her.

"She's staying on Okinawa."

It was as innocuous of a statement he could make under these circumstances.

Sad and piercing eyes looked back at him. Tears again threatened to flow.

"Like how my grandpa had to go away?"

Tatsuya smiled back to her, and nodded.

 _"So I'm not the only one with heavy burdens to bear."_

Mikeko sat back down in her seat, and fought not to cry. Tatsuya thought on some level it was particularly cruel to burden such a young and happy girl with the ability to read other's "pain" through her "gift". If their indeed were Gods that manipulated human life from afar, he thought them unworthy of having this little girl in their power.

A few tears left his eyes. Tears he knew were for his sake. She dabbed at her tears with his handkerchief.

 _"I wonder how that feels? To cry? I wonder what a…relief...it must be?"_

A few moments later, sad eyes turned concern back on her travel companion.

"Did the bad men get her?"

Something inside Tatsuya began to swell. A lump felt like it was forming in his throat. Something warm was building inside his chest.

Was it….

"No, the bad men most certainly didn't get her…"

…..could it possibly be….

"She…..she got, the bad men."

….pride?

It literally felt good inside himself to say those words. He felt instant relief.

 _"Did I WANT to tell this girl about Honami?"_

It wasn't like him to be so forward, especially with classified information. Yet something inside him wanted to get out, past his logic to hold it in. Past his training.

 _"…Honami's story?"_

"Was she…..with the Boy in Black?"

Tatsuya was broken out of his thoughts by intense interest and questioning words.

He nodded in response.

Sadness and confusion filled young Mikeko's face.

"Could he not help her…..like he did the others?"

A smile crossed Tatsuya's face then.

"I'm sure he tried. I know he must have really wanted to."

Then he locked kind eyes with his young friend.

"But I'm sure he's just like all of us. He's just a human with a few rare talents. He's no all-powerful god."

She put her small hand on his shoulder then.

"Do you forgive him?"

Tatsuya blinked in confusion back at her way too profound question.

 _"Do I….forgive….him?"_

Tatsuya sighed heavily before answering.

"I was…disappointed in him, for not being good enough to save her when he could save all those other people."

Then he smiled lightly at her.

"But I know he regrets not being able to help her when she had helped him so much. I know he will do everything he can to better himself so that it will not happen again to someone else."

Then he smiled his brightest smile yet again for her.

"And I know my Onee-chan would want me to forgive him, so yes, I do forgive him, if for no other reason then for her sake."

She smiled back happily at him.

"Good!"

They sat there for a few quiet moments more. Then those curious eyes turned back to him.

"Do you ever think, we'll ever know who the Boy in Black really is?"

She already knew the identity of the Boy in Black. Tatsuya was sure of it. She knew without saying so that the Boy in Black was right beside her. But she was smart enough to know neither could say so.

And then a sudden thought struck his mind, and he smiled.

"Perhaps, but if the day comes when they do find out who he is, will you do me a great favor on that day?"

Her eyes widened intensely then, her hero had a request for her!

"I promise with all my heart!"

She would not deny him.

"They may say many things about him. They may even call him a villain."

She furrowed her eyes as if such a thing was a violation of all things good and decent in the world.

"They may even call him, the Hero of Okinawa."

Her expression restored to instant happiness at his follow up comment. He could see in her eyes that Shiba Tatsuya was already her "Hero of Okinawa".

"But will you remember for me, the name of the person the Boy in Black knows to be the true…Hero of Okinawa?"

"I promise, I will. Please tell me your Onee-chan's name."

He smiled back to her.

"She was called...Sakurai Honami."

Little Mikeko looked like she had just heard the name of an angel whispered in her ear.

"Sakurai…..Honami-chan."

 _"Maybe she did just hear the name of an angle?"_

"I promise I will never forget the name of Sakurai Honami-chan…the true Hero of Okinawa."

They shared a great smile between them and an unexpected bond was formed as well. A secret to be kept, a promise to be fulfilled.

A few minutes later, still clutching his handkerchief in her tiny hands, little Mikeko's intense morning ended with her head on Tatsuya's right thigh.

As the little girl with an amazing gift slumbered away on his lap with dreams of the Boy in Black swirling in her mind; a slightly older boy with an amazing gift of his own looked down at her and wondered if he could fulfill the promise he had made to his…Onee-chan…..over the fires that had consumed her mortal remains.

Looking down at this girl he realized that it wasn't enough to just free the Yotsuba's Guardians from their burden as "living weapons".

Even this little girl, with obviously loving parents, was still considered by those in power to be a "tool" for their usage and disposal. They refused to see the living person below the magic.

 _"Living weapons."_

No magician alive better fit that description than himself. The "ultimate" living weapon.

 _"She wants me to live…free?"_

Had Mikeko said that about his mother….no, she only said that she was proud and loved him.

 _"But why do I keep hearing in my thoughts that mother wants me to live….free?"_

Did she? It went against everything Shiba Miya, of the Yotsuba, represented to him in his mind.

 _"But why kill herself for me?"_

The mystery behind the word "mother" only deepened for him.

Then the image of another beautiful little girl drifted into his mind.

"….Miyuki."

He whispered the name so lightly that Mikeko didn't even stir.

He would never allow anyone to ever use his Miyuki as a weapon.

He looked back down at the sleeping angel on his lap then.

 _"No, I must find a way to protect all the little magicians of this world from those that would exploit them."_

He knew, instinctively, that that was the only way he could truly honor the sacrifice that Honami had made for his sake on the beaches of Okinawa.

In his heart, he pledged to change the world. To make it a world safe for his Miyuki, and little children like Mikeko.

As the aircraft sped on towards the northeast and home, Tatsuya's mind was filled with thoughts of the one person in this world he could love.

….Miyuki.

And of the other two women that were closest to him in his so far short life.

One he wished he could love, because she truly deserved more love than he could ever hope to give.

….Honami.

And the one he wished he could truly understand enough to genuinely love. A woman who, from now on would never be "madam" to him again. A woman who would always be to him from now on...

….Mother.

[The End]

* * *

Author's notes:

Again, I thank you all for reading my humble work. While this is the end of this particular story, the Shiba siblings and their friends' story continue onward. More can be found in my other works here on :

-Going Home

and

-To Stand at the Pinnacle

My particular take on Satou-sama's amazing story and characters continue in these humble efforts.

And there will be a short Epilogue to this story as well in the coming week, so please keep an eye out for that too.

Sachiko Mikeko was a new character of my own design that I had always intended to include in this story from very near the beginning of me starting this work, but she took on particular meaning to me as I completed her part. It was always my intention to have Tatsuya fly home with a surprising little girl with magic talent that would let him focus into perspective what had happened to him and Miyuki that difficult week. When I started this story I learned shortly after that my wife and I were expecting our first child. The day before I wrote this final chapter, I learned that she would be a girl. I think that with this in the foreground of my mind I found it very easy to make Mikeko more "real" to me at least, and I hope you can see that in my work too. I am certain now that she will make an appearance later on in To Stand at the Pinnacle.

Thanks once again,

The Baryon Lancer


	11. Chapter 11: Epilogue

He couldn't believe that after the momentous events of this week he still felt this way before this door.

 _"So after all of that that I went through, I still hesitate like a little boy?"_

Standing before this doorway, he was disappointed in himself and…..

Ashamed.

 _"I'm a combat veteran now. Damn, I even…."_

Then a reminder hit him that he was still a thirteen year old boy. Even in the privacy of his own mind, he still couldn't say the words. His nightmares this week had been intense though.

Killed, he had killed other humans.

He couldn't find relief in sleep. His mother had already insisted he speak to a psychologist, though he knew the man on the other side of the door would mark the need to do so against him. It never entered his mind that full grow men, combat veterans, also need this type of help after doing their duty.

To him, it was weakness none the less. To him, it was beneath the dignity of a future head of a Ten Master Clans house to need such help, even if he was still just a boy.

Ichijou Masaki stood before this familiar doorway in hesitation like he had so many times already in his short life.

That door held more intimidation for him than a whole army of the enemy could, now that he had faced an enemy army.

Beyond this door was something he still feared even more than all those attacking soldiers he had turned into….

 _"…..Crimson Blooms."_

The "darkness of that memory flooded his mind.

 _"If they would have just retreated after we blew up their vehicles..."_

But they didn't, and Masaki stood side-by-side with his father, and they did what had to be done.

Something he truly hated within himself was his intense need for the approval of the person beyond this door, yet the fear in his heart was that what lay behind this door instead would be...

Disappointment and Judgment.

This was the door to the office of the current head of the Ichijou clan and Masaki's own father.

Ichijou Gouki.

 _"Just knock! It's not hard! Quit being such a coward!"_

His self-admonishments had yet to produce results.

 _"Eventually he'll walk out and see you standing here like a…"_

Then a voice stunned him from the other side of the door.

"Come in already Masaki."

It was like a slap across his face. His father already knew he was here. All his efforts to work himself up were for naught. He felt exposed and naked.

But time waits for no man, and he finally went inside.

The owner of that gruff voice was behind his desk. The look on his face was pure irritation, but he had yet spare his eldest child and only son a look.

Masaki stepped up to the front of the desk and waited to be acknowledged again. His father didn't have guest chairs in his office. He didn't call people here to be comfortable.

The ocular/brain wave reader over his father's right eye and ear indicated that he was composing something on the virtual screen in front of his eye that only he could see.

He was indeed very agitated.

 _"Maybe I should have waited. I knew he'd be tired, but…"_

A few seconds later his father sighed heavily, took the brain wave reader off his ear, leaned back in his chair, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

 _"Yeah, this was the wrong time for this."_

But it was too late, he was here already. His father wouldn't let him leave without knowing what he had wanted now.

He decided on attacking from an oblique angle first.

"How was your trip father?"

Gouki sighed again at this, slowly leaned his head downward. For the first time those piercing eyes fell on his son.

"Pointless, that's how my trip was."

As Gouki cleared his throat lightly, Masaki instantly regretted asking this question. His father's response dripped with frustration.

"I'm sorry to hear that father."

He could see his father's jaw clinch, then project forward slightly.

"Surely you didn't come here to hear about my trip. I'm very tired so please get to the point."

Yes, this indeed had been the wrong time to do this.

Less than a week before, Masaki and his father had led a group of volunteer combat magicians to Sado Island to support the SDF forces there trying to repel the invaders from the New Soviet Union. Only minutes after returning from the battle, his father was called upon by the other Ten Master Clans to rush off somewhere else. He told no one where he was going, just that he had to go.

Masaki had thought it was ridiculous to make his father, fresh from combat, rush off somewhere when the heads of the other nine master clans had done nothing to help on Sado.

A few hours later he had a pretty good idea where his father had rushed off to.

The Sado invasion was apparently a side-show to the main event. Masaki had been certain his father had been rushed off to Okinawa. The battle there was over too, but something unusual and extraordinary had happened there.

It was dominating the news. Over and over again the images from Okinawa were rebroadcast.

They were calling it….The Great Boom.

A huge explosion of unknown origin that had destroyed six enemy ships off the west coast of Okinawa. The final and dramatic act of the abortive invasion of that island by forces obviously supported by the Great Asian Alliance.

Now it all made sense to him.

The Ichijou family operate an undersea mineral mining company with a significant undersea exploration arm. This was the official family business.

And…The Great Boom had happened several kilometers from the island in the East China Sea.

If the Ten Master Clans wanted to investigate The Great Boom, then his father was the only viable choice to send there to conduct that investigation.

The news also reported that Kudou Retsu and Juumonji Kazuki were heading to the International Magic Association to discuss the Great Boom with the leaders of the worldwide magic community in an emergency summit.

Japan apparently had a new strategic class magician, and the world wanted answers.

And so apparently did the Ten Master Clans.

The sound of his father clearing his throat with irritation broke his internal reflections. The look sent his way clearly indicated he should either speak or get out.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, and then began to talk.

"There is something causing me concern…that I wish to discuss with you father."

Gouki just stared back at him impassively. He wasn't going to help his reluctant son by forwarding the conversation from his side. Piercing eyes stared back at him impatiently.

"Father…"

He braced himself and pushed onward.

"…..I want to talk about…..the boy."

Masaki didn't know what to expect when he broached this topic with his father, but the reaction he got was completely unexpected.

"THE BOY? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE BOY?"

Masaki pulled back at his father's anxious and angry question. Gouki had literally jumped out of his chair, slamming his palms on the desk top and leaning forward intimidatingly at his reeling son. His eyes literally burned with fury and stunned curiosity.

"I…I…..I just…."

Masaki was thrown completely off by his father's reaction, forcing him to stumble and stutter out words in response.

"He's…he's still…upstairs. We haven't really…got to….."

Gouki's body was suddenly like a balloon that had lost all its air. He thumped back down into his seat and let out a great sigh.

He was….relieved.

"Oh…..THAT boy."

He rubbed his brow with both sets of fingers. He was clearly exhausted. Masaki rarely saw his father in such an exhausted state.

After a few more moments, his father spoke to him again.

"What about…..the boy?"

Masaki recovered from his father's unexpected outburst and pushed out his question.

"I'd like to know…..what will we do with him? What do you…..plan to do about him?"

Gouki once again looked at his son with suspicious eyes.

"What is your interest in this situation?"

Masaki's reflexes tried to pull him back from his father's gaze, but he forced himself to push forward.

"I just think…well both his parents…..I mean….."

He was foundering. He knew he was foundering and so did his father. That suspicious look started to turn to agitation and frustration.

He was under the pressure of those eyes now. He began to feel panic building inside himself. It was all going so wrong. He had to do something to save this situation and his own reputation in his father's eyes.

"I…I don't…."

"You don't WHAT? Spit it out boy!"

"I…I don't think we should…..send him away!"

And there it was. It was out. He felt….relief. He started to breathe easier. He even began to form a smile.

"…is that so?"

Any building relief he was feeling died a sudden death with his father's response. Those suspicious eyes only doubled in intensity, as they bore into his soul. His father seemed to be searching him as if something on him was dangerous.

"Um….yes sir. I think…..I think it would be….WRONG! He just watched his….his parents….get killed."

Those same eyes still stared back at him. Now pressing his fingers together with his hands resting on the desktop, his eyes continued to probe his son with a furrowed brow.

"And what exactly does my son propose we do with the boy instead?"

Masaki was about to make a serious proposal to his father, but he was still nervous. He began to try to formulate his response, when a sudden knock at the door brought both their attention towards that direction.

His father looked mildly irritated by the interruption, but raised a single finger at his son to indicate they would pause their discussion.

"Come in Akane."

Masaki blinked at his father.

 _"How does he know….."_

Then the door opened and his eight year old sister walked in, closing the door behind her. He had been spot on, it was indeed Akane that had knocked.

 _"Hidden camera maybe?"_

She had a pouting but pensive look on her face. She was arguable her father's favorite child, and arguably the most bold as well. She dared to say the things to their father he would never say; and unlike him, she usually got away with it.

She looked up at Masaki with an incredulous expression that indicated the same as the question "what are you doing here?"

She had their father's facial expressions too. She looked at Masaki with suspicion and curiosity as well.

"Alright Akane, what is it?"

She turned towards the desk with that pensive look of hers returning, but she also had that angry look mixed in with it she always had when she was determined to get her way.

Marching up beside Masaki, she finally turned that angry look across to their father, who returned the same look back at his young daughter, but with a questioning eyebrow raise as well.

"Father…I don't want you to send Kichijouji-kun away!"

His father's face went suddenly soft, and he blinked uncomprehendingly back at his angry looking daughter.

Masaki finally found something his father and he could agree on. Both were clearly surprised Akane had come to discuss the same thing as Masaki. They rarely agreed on anything, but now they had found common ground on this one topic.

The young boy they had rescued from the magic research lab on Sado Island, who had watched as his parents and their colleagues fought and died. Who had carried all the research his parents and their colleagues had been working on to safety, despite all the horror he had just witnessed.

Kichijouji Shinkurou.

He hadn't even spoke a word for the first two days after they brought him back from the island. He barely ate then too. There had been a real worry that he'd have to be fed intravenously.

Then on the third day he spoke again, and ate a bit more; but to say he was "normal" right now would be far off the mark.

Of course that's understandable. Masaki wasn't back to "normal" either, and compared to what Kichijouji went through Masaki had simply had a stroll in the park.

Then their father surprised them both.

He started…laughing.

"You two, working together? Maybe we should let the boy stay so you two can get along better, huh?"

He continued to laugh, which suddenly frustrated both his witnessing children.

"We're not working together!"

Saying the same thing at the same time had defeated their emphatic words to the contrary.

"Stop that!"

They did it again to their mutual horror. Both turned from the other with frustrated expressions.

Then there was yet another knock on the door.

Now their still amused father only looked at the door with a look of disbelief.

He began to shake his head sideways as he called out.

"Come in dear."

Their mother stepped into the office with a curious expression on her face, which only grew when she saw their two oldest children also in the room.

"My goodness, what is all that laughter about?"

Gouki smirked back at his wife's own smirk. Then he directed a question back at her.

"Was this your idea my Midori-chan?"

She directed a questioning gaze back to him, and then to her two children, before responding.

"What are you talking about dear?"

"Oh…so even you are feigning ignorance. I see now. I'm being attacked from multiple angles."

Now Midori directed a rare angry expression at her husband.

"Dear, I DON'T know what you are talking about. I realize you have had a stressful week, but if you insist on playing word games with me, I'll simple leave you in here to brood."

The look on her face brooked no deception, only irritation.

"I'm sorry love."

Gouki looked down at his desk as if he were searching for something to relieve his awkward feelings. Like the ray of sunshine in their lives that she was, Midori smiled again without reserve.

"It's alright dear, now someone tell me what is going on. Should I get little Ruri-chan too for this apparent family meeting?"

Her husband smirked again at her.

"No dear, I think we can work this out between just us."

He then turned an amused and suspicious eye towards his two oldest children.

"These two, supposedly with no planned collusion between them beforehand, came to me with apparent intentions to make sure I didn't send our young house guest away without their previous consent."

Masaki and Akane both looked like they were going protest their innocence again, but their mother spoke before they could.

"How very interesting."

Their father nodded to his wife's words while still smirking suspiciously at them.

"I in fact had planned to also talk to you about Shinkurou-kun as well."

Their father abruptly stopped his agreeing nodding, and redirected suspicious to his wife.

"And….you three aren't working together, huh?"

She smiled at him.

"I said so already, did I not?"

He backed down under her gaze. A few moments later he looked back at their children.

"You two go on now and let me and your mother talk."

"There's no need for that dear. This concerns them too, does it not?"

Gouki looked on pensively, but finally nodded his consent.

"While you were gone I did what you asked. We located Shinkurou-kun's nearest living relative."

Masaki could feel Akane suddenly tensing beside him.

"A great aunt, who is neither a magician nor young. She lives in an old folks' home."

For some reason Akane seemed relieved to hear this. Masaki thought that was an odd reaction to have.

"She has two daughters with their own families, all much older that Shinkurou-kun, but none are magicians. Taking on a young magician, and one they never seemed to know existed, didn't seem to particularly thrill either of them when we spoke."

Masaki couldn't help but feel bad for the boy. So-called normal humans loved to use magicians for their own ends, but they were also intimidated by them too. He was certain that THESE distant relatives wouldn't know what to do with the boy.

"Let me guess, his own grandparents died in The Wars?"

His father's guess was probably a good one. Two generations ago and before, two entire generations of modern magicians were….."expended"…to win the Third World War(s). A two plus decade long global "series" of lessor and greater conflicts that altered the political and social makeup of the entire world. The death toll had been greater than all previous human conflicts through known history combined.

And magicians had fought and died on the front lines.

 _"As weapons, not people."_

"Three of them, the fourth only died a few years ago. On both sides his parents were their own parents' only child."

Gouki shook his head with a knowing but disapproving expression.

"A sad but typical story."

Their mother sympathetic expression clearly showed she shared their father's feelings on this point.

Gouki sighed again.

"So...what do you want to do about him?"

The look on his face indicated he knew she already had an answer.

"Well dear, it's not like we can't afford a long term house guest. We certainly have the room for him."

She delivered this answer with her usual radiant smile. Their father just smirked back towards her.

Then those piercing eyes of his bore into his expectant children.

Akane was practically ready to explode with excitement, but she deflated when it was Masaki their father addressed.

"He's your age, and would attend school with you. In a way, if we took him on, he'd be your responsibility Masaki."

Masaki pondered his father's words for a moment. Akane looked at him as if personally disappointed in his hesitation.

"Well, are you willing to bear this burden or not?"

Gruff and questioning eyes bore into him.

"I will..."

A reassuring motherly smile, a sisterly stare of anticipation, and a fatherly questioning gaze.

"...bear this responsibility father. Kichijouji-san will be my responsibility."

"AHHHH!"

Akane let out a delighted sound and clapped her hands together in joy.

"Thank you father! Thank you father!"

She even bounced up and down in front of them. Midori smiled at her son with the normal pride in him she felt. He was definitively "her son" in looks and temperament.

It was the unreadable expression his father sent to him now that made Masaki tense. It wasn't judgmental or hostile in any way, but he could fell the "appraisal" his father was directing at him then.

After a few more moments of Akane celebrating, Masaki and Akane both bowed and thanked their parents.

"Go and make him the offer. The final decision is now his to make."

Akane seemed disappointed to hear this, but then a determined look spread on her face.

Their father reached into a drawer of his desk and produced a data storage device.

"Here, return this to him."

Masaki stepped up and took the storage device from his father.

"Tell him, if he stays, that I'd like to talk with him about the research his parents and their colleagues were doing, and what he was working on."

Masaki nodded to their father then and moved to leave. Akane was impatiently looking at him already by the doorway. He exchanged a smile with his mother as he passed her.

Once they had left, Midori moved around behind the desk. Before she got there, Gouki already had his face in his hands. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began to massage them.

"Oh Gouki-kun, you're so tense. Was your trip to Okinawa that bad?"

Without moving from his leaned over position, he turned a suspicious eye back up towards his wife.

"And what makes my darling think I went to Okinawa?"

She giggled lightly and reached down to hit the news feed button on his desk's embedded data terminal. National and international news feeds began broadcasting on the desktop, all showing replays of the Great Boom.

"Were you so engrossed in your assignment you didn't turn the news on the whole time down there?"

Gouki let out a big sigh of frustration then.

"Unexplained underwater explosion. Ten Master Clan's underwater exploration expert. It wasn't hard for me to figure where they sent you dear."

He sighed again, this time in response to his wife's hands rubbing out his tensions with her fingers.

"You're way too smart for my own good."

She laughed at that as he turned the news feeds off.

"I wasn't entirely oblivious to all this."

He sighed again between his words.

"But you know me."

Midori smiled behind him.

"Oh I do dear! My Gouki-kun is all work and no play."

He smirked at her words.

"Um...a bit harsh. HO!"

Her hand had hit a particularly sore spot on his shoulder.

"And...now all we went through on Sado is nothing but a side-show to...THIS."

She smiled indulgently down at the back of his head as she continued to work his shoulders.

"You don't care about that stuff."

He didn't argue with her correct assertion. He only did what was required. What was expected of a clan head of a Ten Master Clan.

"Still...it would have been nice for Masaki to have been in the spotlight a while longer. What he did on Sado was worthy of international news coverage."

Midori shook her head.

"He doesn't care about that stuff either. He's very much like his father that way."

"Which is exactly why he deserves the attention."

He sat back up and Midori slid to his side to look at him.

"But instead all we hear about is the Big Boom!"

He crossed his arms and frowned.

"And the mystery 'Boy' in Black."

Gouki's frustration was evident.

Midori sent him a serious expression and crossed her own arms.

"Masaki doesn't need public accolades and cheering crowds. Just one positive word from his father would be worth all the praise the world could ever heap on him."

Gouki sighed and turned slightly away from his wife's glaring eyes.

"I know...but if I take it too easy on him, he won't be prepared for this burden."

She could tell how tired he was by his response. She stroked his head. They disagreed on this and always had. In Midori's mind a lot of that had to do with Gouki's own relationship with his father. The previous clan head was the very definition of "hardened combat veteran". He raised Gouki to be "hard" and even Gouki still didn't feel he was "hard enough" to be his father's successor. Now she saw him repeating the same pattern with Masaki. The weight of Gouki's burdens would one day fall on Masaki's shoulders. In yet another Ichijou generation, the father wanted to prepare his son, and the son again assumed their father didn't love them because of it.

She had been working to undermine this stalemate since her boy was very little. She'd make these two show each other their love no matter what it took to do so; but today was not that day.

"Can you talk about it?"

"...a little."

She touched a hidden button on the wall and a chair deployed from the panel below. Once seated beside him she asked a question.

"Since you're clearly frustrated, can I assume there were difficulties?"

"PUAAH!"

The indignant sound he let out was laced with anger and frustration.

"I just got done pulling the damn SDF's asses out of the fire on Sado, to turn around hours later and have them treat me like I was a GAA agent on Okinawa."

His arms were crossed again and anger creased his brows.

"They wouldn't let us near the damn blast site, on water or land! Me, the official representative of the Ten Master Clans!"

She rubbed his shoulders lightly again.

"Don't get worked up again for this dear."

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before continuing.

"It was already night time when we landed. The SDF made us land at Naha, damn place was a madhouse. We were the only ones trying to get ON the island. Found a Major waiting for me, ancient magician of course. Guy's name is Kazama, did a lot of serious work down in Indochina, a real combat magician. Looked him up later, he's one of GENERAL Saeki's group."

"GENERAL Saeki?"

Gouki nodded with a smirk.

"Yeah, newly minted MAJOR GENERAL Saeki Hiromi."

Midori knew enough about Japanese magic politics to know that former Colonel Saeki was one of the most outspoken critics of the Ten Master Clans system, which naturally made her a major proponent of the Self Defense Forces having their own magic Special Forces units without connections to the Ten Master Clans.

"If she got promoted..."

"Yeah, it means something big went down behind the scenes."

She turned questioning eyes to her husband.

"So this Major...obstructed your investigation?"

He smirked then.

"Very politely, but very effectively. Assigned us guards day and night, 'for our safety'. Every time we tried to get near that beach we found roadblocks and checkpoints. Even had a mundane corporal tell me I wasn't authorized to be there, and he KNEW who I was when he said it!"

She rubbed his shoulders again.

"Don't call them mundanes dear."

He shook his head then.

"I know...sorry, but the whole point of going was to investigate the site for magic deployment, and the military treated us like intruders."

She nodded at his frustrations.

"So, was it magic?"

He smirked at her.

"The new official story is that the hydrazine fuel cells on one of the ships was breached by a magic attack, resulting in...The Great Boom."

Midori laughed then.

"They don't expect people to believe that right, do they? Those six ships, even if all six had their hydrazine fuel cells explode together wouldn't make a blast like that!"

Gouki smirked again at her.

"Hell, half the GAA's fleet could have been there with all of their fuel cells ruptured simultaneously, and it wouldn't have made an explosion like that!"

He shook his head again.

"But if you're asking me if they expect common people to believe that story, I'll answer they expect them to believe it 'just enough' to not question them too much further about it."

He crossed his arms again.

"That's all they need for now."

"But that much hydrazine, even if most was consumed in the explosion, would still have a major biological impact. They can't hide that."

He shook his head at that too.

"Yeah, they're claiming the magic was 'perfect' and used all the hydrazine in the explosion. That also is part of their attempt to justify the blast strength too."

Midori pondered the situation for a moment.

"So...it's certain it's a new strategic class magician?"

He looked down with an unreadable expression at the desktop.

"Has to be. The traces of evidence in the environment alone would be far beyond the SDF's abilities to hide and clean up otherwise."

He turned to face her.

"And since their new none-strategic class magic 'story' has holes the size of mountain tunnels in it, there's no other realistic explanation."

True concern showed on his face then.

"This nation has a new strategic class magician with the ability to make huge 'clean' explosions. There's only a few current physics theories that could explain that type of explosion."

"...matter/energy conversion."

He smirked up at his wife.

"The very first of those theories on the list."

Midori looked truly worried for the first time.

"Have you done the calculations for that theory based on this blast force?"

Gouki solemnly nodded slowly back to her.

"The blast had an energy output of four thousand Terajoules. The equivalent of almost one thousand kilotons of TNT."

Midori had to cover her mouth in shock.

"That's nearly seven times greater than the Hiroshima bomb!"

Gouki nodded darkly as he replied.

"Nearly five times greater than the Nagasaki bomb too."

His look turned even darker then.

"And not one drop of radiation, or chemical residue. A truly 'clean' explosion."

He turned stunned eyes to her.

"If it was matter/energy conversion, it was done with a mass of only around forty-five grams of material."

"My God, and in the hands of that poor boy."

Gouki looked at her with frustration.

"So you know about The Boy too?"

She nodded.

"It's been all over the news too dear."

He turned away in frustration.

She stood up and rubbed her frustrated husband's shoulders again.

"Do you think...The Boy in Black, is also..."

"The strategic class magician?"

"...yeah."

Another deep sigh came out then.

"I kind of hope so."

She was surprised by this answer.

Knowing she was, he smiled up to her and touched her hand.

"Otherwise the SDF has two super magicians in their stable, and the Ten Master Clans has no access to them."

He swiveled his chair to look at her, and after taking her hands in his he guided her back to her seat.

"On the way home, I called the Japanese Magic Association headquarters to file an official complaint about how the SDF obfuscated our efforts to investigate."

He looked away with a troubled expression.

"Ten minutes later, I got a call on the flight home."

He seemed disturbed by this memory.

"It was Elder Kudou."

"Didn't he go to the International Magic Association to discuss Okinawa?"

Gouki smiled at his wife.

"You mean wasn't he too busy to call me about such a thing at that moment?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, but he apparently felt it was important enough to ask me to withdraw my official complaint."

Midori blinked in surprise, then she nodded.

"He knows something?"

Gouki smirked at her accurate conclusion.

"Yeah, there's going to be a secret Ten Master Clans emergency conference tomorrow in Nara. The Elder will be making an address to us. I leave in the morning."

She looked at him with suspicion showing.

"What do you expect?"

Gouki looked away.

"I expect him to announce that we need to compromise with the government and 'help' them cover everything up."

Then he turned hard eyes towards her.

"But real answers, they'll be none of those."

Midori suspected when her husband came home late tomorrow night, his mood would be the same or worse at today.

"The Elder doesn't have those answers yet. He's calling us off so he can worm his way in and find the answers, not that he'd share them with us once he has them. He even said Kouichi and Maya agreed with him that the Ten Master Clans must act as one voice on this. Now THAT says a lot about how big this is, doesn't it?"

"That's..."

"Terrifying? Yes!"

Saegusa and Yotsuba never willingly agreed on anything without much intervention and posturing beforehand. For both to agree to the Elder's request for unity before the actual facts being laid out said a lot about just how serious the situation was.

She rubbed his shoulders again. She had heard enough to sate her own curiosity for now. Anymore and her husband wouldn't be in any shape to face his colleagues tomorrow.

She kissed his forehead and hugged him. He buried his head sideways in her bosom and sighed deeply as her wrapped his arms around her.

A few moments later, she decided to ask another question.

"You know dear, I didn't expect you to give in to the children so easily."

He turned his eyes up to her smirking expression.

"I expected you to give in eventually, but not so quickly. You like to make our poor babies work first, normally."

He smirked back to her.

"What am I, some terrible ogre of a father?"

She laughed and patted his head.

"I fully expected you to let him stay once you found out about his lack of family. Under all that crusty old man you're soft as pudding."

"LIES! ALL LIES!"

They laughed together.

"But you do have a kind heart, which is why I tolerate my gruff ogre so much."

She stroked his head again.

"But you already wanted to keep the boy, didn't you?"

He breathed a heavy sigh.

"He's smart. His parents let him work in the lab."

She was a bit surprised to hear that answer.

"Even some of his own research was on that storage device. I'm intrigued to see where that research is going."

"And that's why you want to keep him?"

He could hear the rebuke in her voice.

"You know better! It's only why I gave in to those two so easily. I had planned to let him stay if he had no real family."

She kissed the top of his head.

"Ah! You are soft as pudding!"

They held each other a bit longer.

"That boy has some interesting research going on. If we can make him a real part of us, then he'll be a credit to us as well."

She looked down at him with a sad expression.

"Don't expect too much from him. You and Masaki both aren't doing so well after the battle yourselves. Imagine what he's going through."

Gouki sighed heavily at her words.

"I know dear, we'll do what we can for him."

"Make him a real part of us? You mean like through marriage?"

Gouki turned concerned eyes up at his smiling wife.

"I didn't say THAT!"

"Oh?"

She smirked down at him.

"Looked to me like Akane wouldn't mind a marriage contract being signed today."

The stunned expression on Gouki's face made her laugh.

"My little princess is only EIGHT!"

Midori laughed even harder as her gruff ogre pouted back at her.

* * *

Here he was, for the second time in half an hour, standing before a doorway, too apprehensive to knock.

Of course this doorway caused him pause for a completely different reason, but the feeling inside himself was the same.

"HUH!"

Akane burst out a frustrated sound and stared back at him with disappointment gleaming in her eyes.

"Wuss!"

Masaki began to protest his innocence, but Akane's actions stopped him cold.

She boldly knocked on the guest room door and called within.

"Kichijouji-kun, it's Akane-chan!"

A complete turnaround in attitude right before his eyes. Akane's previously venomous voice was now practically dripping with honey in tone.

"Someone has a split personality."

Akane glared at his smirking and whispered remark.

"Masaki's here too for some reason."

 _"Ah! There's the normal tone of sisterly love again."_

She glared at him, but the voice had instantly went right back to sweetness.

"May we come in?"

A muffled voice came from the other side of that door.

"Ah...yes, please do."

Akane walked in to the room with a glowing smile on her face. Her brother followed with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow for the back of his sister's head.

"Good morning Kichijouji-kun! AH!...let me do that!"

She rushed forward and grabbed the tea tray out of a slightly surprised Kichijouji's hands.

"Oh...um...you don't need to..."

Masaki decided to rescue him as Kichijouji fumbled for the right words.

"I'd just let her do it. She seems to like manual labor...all of a sudden."

Akane glared back at Masaki as she took the tray to the room's HAR terminal. When she turned back around she was once again beaming a smile brightly towards a perplexed and embarrassed Kichijouji."

"Did Kichijouji-kun sleep alright last night?"

Kichijouji nodded as he replied.

"Oh, yes...very well...thank you."

Masaki had heard his mother talk with the psychologist who had examined both Kichijouji and himself. Masaki had had some pretty intense dreams, more like nightmares, these last few night since coming back from Sado.

He had killed people...lots of them.

He had to, since they would have killed him otherwise; but the memory of it was a lot for anyone to bear, much less a thirteen year old.

 _"...Crimson Blooms."_

Of course he had been able to fight back. Poor Kichijouji had been in no such position, and on top of that...

 _"He saw them...torture and...murder his parents."_

Kichijouji hadn't sleep well since, understandably. They had servants on hand in the hallway at night all week just in case he or Kichijouji woke up poorly. Masaki had been able to hide his inner demons, but bearing many times greater demons than his own, Kichijouji had awaken screaming almost every night, sometimes two or even three times.

"OH! Forgive my rudeness."

Kichijouji went to the wall panel to retrieve hidden chairs, but Akane practically shoved him back onto the bed.

"Don't worry about that Kichijouji-kun, I have it."

She retrieved a single chair from the wall and placed it right in front of where Kichijouji sat on the bed, then plopped her own butt in it and stared warmly at Kichijouji."

Masaki cleared his throat.

"Forget someone?"

Akane squinted back at him with a smirk.

"Nope!"

Masaki sighed heavily and retrieved a chair for himself.

"Some people!"

Akane rolled her eyes at his mild rebuke.

And then they both got a pleasant shock.

Kichijouji...laughed.

They both looked on as he fought to regain his composure.

"You two...have a good relationship."

They looked at each other like he was delirious to say such a thing, but they left it there for now.

Masaki took his seat then and started their conversation.

"Mother has located your nearest relative."

Kichijouji's face became serious then.

"...Oh? Who are they?"

"A great aunt on your mother's side. Her father's sister."

Kichijouji nodded with a distant look in his eyes.

"I knew there was family on that side, but we never met them. Grandfather died in the Wars and so...well I never met that side."

Masaki nodded his understanding as he replied.

"She is pretty old and in assisted living. She of course wouldn't be a suitable legal guardian for you."

Kichijouji nodded his understanding.

"She has two daughters with their own families; but they are approaching retirement age themselves, and their children are all college or marriage age."

"They would be your third cousins!"

Akane added that bit for some unknown reason. Maybe she didn't want them to forget she was here.

Kichijouji nodded understanding and then asked a question.

"None of them are...magicians...right?"

Masaki looked back somewhat pensively before answering.

"Right...none are magicians."

Kichijouji nodded with only the slightest of smiles on his face.

"It would be a great burden for them to try to raise a magician, especially one they didn't even know."

"Well, about that..."

Kichijouji didn't let him finish his statement.

"Then my path forward is clear. I'll need to ask the Magic Association to put me in one of their orphanages until I reach legal age."

Masaki twisted his face to this, but Akane let out a terrified sound and covered her open mouth.

Kichijouji misinterpreted her reaction and tried to reassure her.

"I've done some research, it's not so bad, JIMA (Japanese branch of the International Magic Association) gets orphans all the time, even older than me. They are used to taking people in unexpectedly, and most of their facilities are very nice."

Modern magicians were a product of early twenty-first century breeding and genetic programs to create combat magicians for the military.

...living weapons.

And being in combat or other dangerous jobs always led to causalities.

Encouraged to breed to make even better magicians, modern magic families often exceeded the number of children produced by society as a whole. If one or both parents died preforming their dangerous jobs, someone had to be there to take care of their children. After all, they weren't just children...

 _"...but valuable resources...future, improved, living weapons."_

The JIMA ran orphanages have a great reputation, and benefited from government support and generous donations from the nation's magic community as a whole.

Kudou Retsu even personally funds the summer camp programs for every JIMA orphan in the nation.

But even the best orphanage on Earth couldn't replace a loving home.

Akane turned desperate eyes to her brother. They practically screamed to him "do something"!

"Our parents..."

All eyes turned to Masaki as he fumbled for words.

"...well...they think..."

Akane now furrowed her brows in frustration at him.

"...you'd be...better off...here."

Kichijouji blinked in momentary confusion.

"...A JIMA orphanage near Kanazawa?"

"NO!"

Akane bounded out of her chair and practically screamed at the stunned Kichijouji.

"HERE...with US! In our home!"

Kichijouji was having a hard time processing this information. He turned questioning eyes to Masaki, who nodded affirmation back.

"Our parents think it's in your best interests to stay with us long term. We have more than enough space to accommodate you, and you'll have access to the best magic education possible."

Akane's head bobbed up in down at Kichijouji with enthusiasm bursting out of her.

"You'll like it here! I'll...we'll take great care of Kichijouji-kun, promise!"

Kichijouji was clearly overwhelmed by this offer.

"I...I...I can't...I..."

Then he calmed himself and after a few moments spoke.

"It is indeed an extremely generous offer, one I do not feel I have earned. When I put it into the balance of what I already owe to your father and Masaki-san as well; I simply cannot accept such an offer. I would have to work for the rest of my life to repay the Ichijou Family for that level of support. I respectfully must decline."

He stood and bowed to them. Masaki looked mystified on how to convince him, and Akane looked like she was about to panic.

"I'll contact JIMA and then offer my thanks in person to your parents. I may have to impose on your generosity one more..."

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Akane pushed the stunned Kichijouji back onto his bed with flashing fury showing in her eyes.

No matter the situation this was no way for a daughter of the Ichijou to behave. Masaki intended to correct her rudeness.

"Akane! Look here..."

But she ignored her brother and bore in full force at the wide-eyed Kichijouji.

"Kichijouji-kun said that he owed Daddy and Masaki too much already! You mean for saving your life, right?"

Kichijouji nodded in clear intimidation. Masaki tried to interject again.

"This is no way..."

"So how are you going to pay back your life-debt in an orphanage?"

She even had Kichijouji's shirt lapels in both her clinched fists.

"I...well I..."

"Akane! Stop being so..."

"That's right! You can't pay them back from an orphanage! The only way you can protect my brother's life is to stay by his side!"

"WOOOO! Akane! I don't need..."

"Isn't that right Kichijouji-kun?"

"I...well...I suppose..."

"RIGHT! And the only way you can do that is to stay here with us, RIGHT?"

She was even shaking the stunned Kichijouji back and forth lightly as she bore her intense glaring eyes into him.

"I...well...well..."

"Akane, let go of..."

"Say it!"

"Akane!"

"Say you'll stay! Say it now! Promise Aniki your support and that you'll stay!"

"AKANE! THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Masaki finally got out a full rebuke for his wild acting imouto.

"I PROMISE I'LL PAY MASAKI-SAN BACK FOR SAVING MY LIFE!"

"Say it! Say you'll STAY!"

"I'LL STAY! I PROMISE I'LL STAY!"

And just as if a switch had been flipped, Akane went from insane little demon to bubbling happy little girl in the blink of an eye.

She giggled in delight.

"Hehehehe! Yeah!"

She enthusiastically clapped her hand in joy.

"What in the..."

Masaki words and the equally befuddled looks from him and Kichijouji both greeted Akane's complete personality change.

"Yea! Now that's settled! See Kichijouji-kun! That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Kichijouji, still in a state of shock, didn't dare do anything but nod affirmation to the little terror known as Akane.

"Oh!"

Akane spun around with joy radiating off her. She walked to the HAR as she spoke.

"Let's celebrate! I'll get the beverages!"

Kichijouji and Masaki exchanged terrified expressions only once Akane had turned around and couldn't see them.

"Look Kichijouji-san..."

Masaki's expression became awkward.

"...I don't want you to feel like you owe me your life. I don't see it that way at all. Neither does father."

Now Kichijouji's expression matched his.

"Oh...I...well I..."

"Don't worry about what Aniki thinks Kichijouji-kun."

Akane had turned back around with a tray carrying three large tea mugs. She directed another angry glare at her brother.

She then smiled happily at Kichijouji as she offered him the first choice of beverages.

"Kichijouji-kun already knows what's right in his heart. You just do what you know to be correct and let Masaki think what he wants."

"Um..."

Unable to find the right words in this awkward moment, Kichijouji went with the safe choice.

"...thanks, Akane-san."

"CHAN!"

She beamed back at him.

"I am Akane-CHAN for Kichijouji-kun."

Masaki sent a questioning gaze to his little sister. Here she was suddenly acting like some gracious housewife in front of Kichijouji.

Kichijouji wisely surrendered quickly with a head nod.

Masaki, still looking at his sister like she was a stranger, took his own tea off her tray with only the slightest reproachful look sent back at him.

With them all holding a beverage, things became awkwardly silent. Then Akane coughed and sent her brother another reproachful look.

"OH...um..."

He raised his glass and the other two joined him.

"To...new beginnings!"

"...new beginnings!"

After everyone took a sip, Kichijouji spoke.

"Well, if you are to be Akane-chan, perhaps my family name is a bit too formal for you to use. Please feel free to call me Shinkurou."

Akane had a look of pure joy on her face.

"...SH-IN-KU-ROU-KUN."

Her adoring look and words made the atmosphere awkward for both males present.

"Um...just Shinkurou is fine Akane-chan."

"OK...Shinkurou-kun."

By her reaction, he was going to be stuck with the "kun" when it came to Akane.

Shinkurou then turned towards Masaki.

"Please feel free to use my name as well."

"Same back at you, but just Masaki is fine with me."

Shinkurou nodded back.

"Sounds good...Masaki."

They exchanged pleasant smiles, then Masaki made a slight face.

"Shinkurou, somehow that sounds awkward to say now."

Masaki used his own eyes to indicate Shinkurou towards his sister, who had yet to take her eyes off him.

"How rude Aniki! Shinkurou-kun has a beautiful name!"

Akane's sudden rebuke was yet another example of the split personality she had suddenly developed since "Shinkurou-kun" had come home with them.

"I didn't say it wasn't a nice name, just that I felt awkward saying it for me. Kind of sounds like something a girlfriend would call her boyfriend."

He exchanged a teasing look at Shinkurou, who blushed slightly at the implication Masaki was making. Luckily Akane didn't pick up on its hidden meaning.

 _"So, you can be picked on."_

He also knew exactly what Masaki was getting at. Akane's adoration had made "Shinkurou" mean more than just a name.

"How about..."

Masaki had a sudden flash to thought.

"...Jouji?"

A light went off in Shinkurou's eyes. A different light went off in Akane's

"JOU-JI? That's not his name! That's only half his family name! That's not..."

"No...no, that's fine. I like it...Jouji...it sounds like the English name George. I like it!"

Akane blinked confusion at Shinkurou's acceptance of Masaki's proposed nickname for him.

"Well...if that's what Shinkurou-kun wants; but I'm calling you by your REAL name, Shinkurou-kun, it's nice."

They both smiled at Akane as she lightly pouted.

"Alright then...Jouji it is."

Masaki extended his hand.

"Alright then...Masaki."

Jouji shook it.

"Oh! I almost forgot."

Masaki dug around in his pocket as Akane and Jouji looked on. Then he pulled out a small data storage device.

"Father wanted this returned to you."

Masaki held it out for Jouji, who gently took it from him.

Both Masaki and Akane were stunned to see Jouji tearing up at the sight of the storage device.

"I...I thought...I thought I'd lost it forever..."

Akane stepped up to rub Jouji's upper left arm with concern on her face.

"It's...it's all their work...it's everything they worked so hard for..."

"Oh..."

Masaki looked down sadly in sudden realization.

"...your parents' research...I'm sorry I..."

"Not just their research, it's everyone who worked there. It's all their life's work. They trusted it to me. I thought I had...that I had let them all..."

Jouji clutched the storage device to his chest and wiped away a few tears.

Akane smiled in sympathy at him as she continued to rub his arm.

"But you didn't, did you? See, you have it back now. right?"

Jouji nodded to Akane's soothing words.

"Father...had to look at it."

Jouji turned stunned eyes to Masaki then.

"He's the head of one of the Ten Master Clans. Control of magic research..."

"OH! No! Of course. That's to be expected."

Jouji nodded to him with a smile.

"Actually, Father wants to speak to you about it, when you're ready."

Jouji blinked at Masaki's statement.

"He...does?"

Masaki nodded back.

"Yeah, you know we kind of run the Kanazawa Magic Science Institute...the Ichijou family I mean."

"Oh, yeah, i did know that."

"It used to be the First National Magic Research and Development Institute! They created all the "one" magicians there, including us! Well our Great-Great and Great grandparents."

Jouji nodded towards Akane's in understanding, then his look turned serious and he spoke out.

"I was...close to something, in my research...I think. Maybe that's what Ichijou-sama wants to speak about?"

Masaki raised his eyebrows.

"You did research in the lab?"

Jouji vacantly nodded affirmation.

"Wow, well...if that's the case, no wonder Father wants to talk to you about it."

"Maybe Father wants to give you a lab at the Institute to finish your work?"

Akane's speculation was said with enthusiasm and adoring eyes.

"Oh...well...I..."

"It's entirely possible. He found something on there of interest to him obviously. Only way to find out is to talk to him about it."

Jouji nodded to this.

"You're right Masaki, I should go talk to him."

He stood to rise, but Akane waved her hands at him.

"After lunch Shinkurou-kun."

Jouji sat back down and then sat there silently for a moment looking at the storage device in his hand. Then he spoke again.

"So, what's next?"

Masaki was too perplexed at first to answer Jouji's question. Akane, true to form, had an answer ready.

"We need to go clothes shopping for Shinkurou-kun! I'll tell mother, we'll go this afternoon!"

Masaki screwed up his face at her response before speaking.

"Well, school starts in a week so we'll need to get you into my middle school."

Akane shot him a look then and smirked at him.

"Father and Mother will have already handled that!"

Masaki shrugged back at her.

"And then in two and a half years..."

Jouji's eyes followed Masaki's indicating head tilt out of his room's window. He stood up from the bed and went to the window, with Akane and Masaki joining him.

"...that's..."

The Ichijou mansion's entrance road aligned with the main road beyond the gates. About a kilometer and a half down that road was a large red brick edifice. On top of a square brick tower that looked like a medieval castle sat a yellow symbol in a stylized sunburst pattern.

"That..."

Masaki finished for him.

"...is Third High."

* * *

The light of a thousand suns exploding together once again filled young and amazed eyes all across the conference room.

The first time the videos played before their eyes, a unified and stunned gasp had reached every corner of this room. Even two of the three adults in the room with them barely contained their amazement at that first broadcast of the four chronologically synchronized images on the screen.

The two women, the older one in a kimono, the younger one in a functional pant suit; both couldn't tear their eyes from the replay on the screen even now. It had to also be their first time seeing this image as well.

Only the older man seemed undisturbed by what they were seeing.

His eyes were on the audience, not the show.

She knew he was watching their reactions, but the question in her mind was "why".

He looked at her gaze then, and knowingly nodded to her.

He was a rare visitor, but they all knew who he was. No servant of this great house stood higher than he did. He stood by the right hand of Toushu-sama herself.

Hayama-dono, the First Butler of the Yotsuba.

She returned his appraising eye and nod, then returned her eyes to the video displays.

The screen before them was split into four parts. Three smaller images on the right side of the screen stacked on top of one another. From the distance of the broadcast on the top right screen, it looked like it was from an orbital satellite feed almost directly over the island.

The middle smaller right screen showed what was assumed to be a distant ground level closed circuit image from a camera mounted further down the coastline.

The bottom smaller right screen looked like it was from another satellite in space, but further away from the point of the flash of light, since the angle to the Erath seemed more acute.

The fourth video feed filled the majority of the available screen space before them. It was clearly from a suborbital flying drone perspective.

At that moment, all four synchronized images again showed the bright and blinding light once more; like the three previous times they had watched it. The video feeds were playing on a loop. Again, like before, three of the four images winked out in quick succession and went to static, each corresponding to the relative distance from the epicenter of that blinding light.

Only the screen at the bottom right still broadcast till the end of the video loop. It was apparently the only camera not directly affected by the great blast. From this one you could see the clouds around the great burst dissipate under pressure from the blast wave in a circular fashion. Surprisingly there was now "mushroom cloud".

"A perfectly 'clean' explosion of THAT magnitude?"

These whispered words of astonishment she heard from behind her.

All four screens restarted the feed, but this time Hayama-dono stopped it.

"I think that's enough Yonami-sensei."

With that the younger woman in the pant suit nodded and used a remote to pause the videos.

Sakurai Yonami-sensei was their direct "instructor", though they had many other instructors as well, and she had many other duties to perform outside of "teaching".

She was the oldest and most honored of all the Guardians of the Yotsuba, the only survivor of the first class of the first generation of the Sakura Series Guardians. No one was better qualified to teach future Guardians of their sacred duties to "The Family" than she could be.

Only one other Guardian was held near the same level of respect as Yonami-sensei, and she was currently the Guardian of Toushu-sama's own twin sister, Miya-sama. On the rare occasions Toushu-sama left the Village, it was Yonami-sensei's honor to be her primary Guardian, with at least three more Guardians under her direct supervision.

 _"To serve The Family. To serve a main Family member as Guardian."_

This was her only goal in life. If she could live up to the high standard set by Yonami-sensei and her younger sister, Sakurai Honami-sensei; then perhaps she too could prove worthy to serve as Toushu-sama's shield, or maybe replace Honami-sensei by Miya-sama's side.

But hopefully it would be a long time before either of her esteemed elders were ready to step aside.

Unless of course….they performed the "Ultimate Service" for The Family.

There was one possibility though that wouldn't require anyone to die. Miya-sama had a daughter, only a year older that herself. It was rumored she currently had a male Guardian, but that was only a rumor. Another rumor about this daughter was that one day she would take her aunt's place as the head of The Family. Certainly she was the closest relative to Toushu-sama in the next generation of The Family.

 _"To serve such a Mistress all my life with honor!"_

…Miyuki-sama.

Even if she had a male Guardian currently, when she hit puberty that would become a great difficulty for them both.

There was the hope that lay deep inside this eleven year old Sakura Series Second Generation Guardian.

This was the goal of this humble servant.

Sakurai Minami.

She was not the only Guardian in training with high hopes in this room.

Behind her were the older ones. Four female and two male Bard Series Guardians also looked on at the videos in equal amazement. All six of them were fourteen years old. They had once been twelve. Six of their class of Bards, four boys and two girls; had been lost to….."Training Attrition".

Guardian training was not easy. Many…did not survive.

 _"Only the truly worthy may serve."_

Another generation of Bards sat before her. These nine eight year olds had once also been twelve in number, but three of the males had already proved "unworthy to serve".

It was a miracle that the fourteen year olds had two male Bards still alive. They were more aggressive than the females by design, but it led to a higher training attrition rate for them as well.

 _"They lack caution."_

Her thoughts on them were not a criticism. That was the way the male version of the Bard Series Guardians were designed to be. It was…who they were. That's why they were normally paired with a female Bard as a Guardian team. Female Bards are almost too cautious. Together they balance each other out.

She was also not the only Sakura Series Guardian in the room besides Yonami-sensei. Along the front two rows of seats were another twelve of the Second Generation. A twelve strong full class of five year old Sakura's, none of them yet proven "unworthy to serve".

But some will be…

 _"We were twelve once…"_

Only two months ago they had still been four. Four sisters, but in one particularly intense training session, she had lost her last three sisters.

Sakurai Minami was the only survivor of her class.

They all had to face that particular training alone. She was confident they would still have been four had they been allowed to work together, but that was not the point of that particular training. It had been to test individually survival skills, not the skills of a group.

Only Minami had proven worthy to continue on.

Still, she couldn't help but miss them. Now she alone bore the burden of redeeming her eleven lost sisters. For their sakes, she must now prove worthy to serve The Family.

She never trained beside any of these other Guardian Trainees because they were different classes to her. Until today she had only seen these others in passing between training and work.

Now…she trained alone.

"Settle down."

The stern rebuke and glare from the older woman in the kimono silenced the whispered rumblings among the Guardian Trainees. Obviously what they had just witnessed caused a great stir amongst them.

Shirakawa-dono was the highest ranking female member of The Household, she was also the wife of one of the higher butlers that served under Hayama-dono. In an old style manor house her position would be analogous to Head Housekeeper, and responsible for supervising all female members of The Household. She was also responsible for the education of the Guardian Trainees in regards to service, decorum, and etiquette; where Yonami-sensei focused on survival, combat, and security specific training.

The room naturally quieted under her commanding presence, but the energy and tension didn't stop permeating the atmosphere.

Yonami-sensei moved towards the front and addressed them.

"This island is the Japanese territory of Okinawa, largest of the Ryukyu Archipelago that stretches from the southern end of Kyushu towards the south-southwest into the East China Sea, and ends near the island of Formosa."

A map showing Okinawa and the Ryukyu island chain in relation to Japan, Formosa, and the Asian Continent replaced the frozen video feeds on the screen.

"It is a major forward base of the Self Defense Forces, but it is also a popular summer tourist destination for Japanese civilians."

The map suddenly moved north, and an island off Japan's western coast was highlighted.

"This is Sado Island, also a Japanese possession, this one right off the western coast of Honshu in the Sea of Japan."

She turned serious eyes on the Guardian Trainees then.

"Both of these sovereign Japanese territories were simultaneously attacked and invaded earlier this week."

More stunned whispers followed, but this time their instructors waited for them to settle down.

"Though both nations deny involvement, the Great Asian Alliance and the New Soviet Union cooperated to launch joint attacks on these two islands respectively."

She then turned and indicated Sado Island.

"With help from the Ichijou Family of the Ten Master Clans, the SDF successfully repealed the invaders from Sado."

The map scrolled back to the south to show Okinawa once again.

"And the SDF also successfully repealed the invasion of Okinawa."

She then turned to look at her young charges.

"These are the publically known facts."

Then she smiled slightly.

"Though the government still denies it, what is also accepted by the public as truth is that the invading force on Okinawa and their supporting naval attack forces were destroyed…by a new Strategic Level magic."

Behind her the four screens reappeared and the great blast showed again.

"What is not known to the public, is that a family of the Ten Master Clans also were on Okinawa."

She smiled even more.

"That family's members on the island were critical to our nation's victory over the invaders."

Her smile held pride in it. The trainees now knew which family had been on Okinawa, and the excitement rebuilt among them.

"Yes trainees, it was not just any family, but the greatest of all magic families."

She swept her hand back to the replaying video of the great blast off Okinawa.

"Behold the power of the greatest of noble magic houses that we humble few have the supreme honor to serve!"

All the trainees were on their feet now.

"Behold the power that is…..YOTSUBA!"

"YOTSUBA!, YOTSUBA!, YOTSUBA!, YOTSUBA!"

Minami excitedly joined her fellow trainees in praising the great Family they served. Fists pumped in unison as the family name rang over and over again.

"YOTSUBA!, YOTSUBA!, YOTSUBA!, YOTSUBA!"

Yonami-sensei lead them in celebration from the front, from the side Shirakawa-dono beamed on with pride. Had even the five year old Sakuras been asked, even they seemed ready to march toward the battlefield under the stylized four-leaf clover Mon banner of The Family.

Minami noticed from the corner of her eyes that again Hayama-dono only watched. No expression change could be seen on his stolid face.

Yonami-sensei finally stopped the celebration with dual hand motions for her trainees to retake their seats, which they did obediently.

One of the older male Bards then jumped up and bowed towards Yonami-sensei.

"Yonami-sensei, may this one humbly ask a question?"

 _"Yes, the male Bards lack proper caution."_

However, Yonami-sensei seemed in an indulgent mood. She nodded for him to proceed.

"The strategic magic user…..they are a Family member?"

Surprisingly Yonami-sensei's eyes traveled towards Hayama-dono with some trepidation showing. To everyone's surprise Hayama-dono moved to her side and addressed the question himself.

"Yes, the strategic class magician is indeed a Family member."

Excited glances were exchanged by all the trainees, but Minami noticed stunned and somewhat fearful gazes were mutually exchanged between Yonami-sensei and Shirakawa-dono.

The male Bard bowed deeply towards Hayama-dono.

"Thank you very much of answering this one's question. My heart is filled with pride to know I serve such a Family, with such a member."

The awkward expressions the two female adults shared grew even greater at this, but Hayama-dono merely nodded back and the male Bard retook his seat.

Next Hayama-dono addressed them all.

"Indeed, we are all honored to serve this great house. Now I will tell you all more about the situation."

His eyes turned kindly towards them.

"Toushu-sama's sister, Miya-sama, and her children were vacationing on Okinawa when the island was assaulted."

 _"….Children? More than…."_

"…Miyuki-sama?"

Minami immediately tried to pull back her rudely forwarded question, but Hayama-dono only smiled at her before answering.

"Miyuki-sama was there, but is perfectly safe, as is her mother."

Then a smirk crossed Hayama-dono's visage.

"Thanks to their Guardians."

This made everyone in the room very happy to hear.

"Honami-sensei?"

Hayama-dono indulgently nodded to her question once again.

Minami clutched at her chest in delight, and Yonami-sensei seemed to be beaming with pride. All the little Sakuras down front exchanged excited looks. But there was something odd in Yonami-sensei's expression that Minami found curious.

Their sister, a SAKURA, had served the Family….well.

Minami had only met Honami-sensei once, when Miya-sama paid a visit to Toushu-sama about two years earlier. Honami-sensei had been asked by Yonami-sensei to tell the trainees about serving The Family outside of the Village, out in the "real" world.

From that time on Minami had idolized Honami-sensei. She was everything Minami wanted to become. If she were allowed a poster in her quarters, it would be one of Honami-sensei. She even hoped, that should she somehow prove worthy to serve Miyuki-sama herself; that she'd get to work under and learn from her idol as they guarded mother and daughter together.

Then an amazing thought crossed her mind. It must have crossed several minds, because an eight year old female Bard worked up the courage to ask.

"May this one humbly ask to know which member of the honored Family has such an amazing talent as that?"

She was clearly indicating the looping video display of the great blast.

"Have a seat and I will tell you all."

She nodded back to Hayama-dono and did as he asked.

Then, as she too looked again at the looping video, Minami noticed something odd, right before the great blast. Right where the enemy vessel's Fleming Thrower projectiles were exploding.

"This strategic class magic….."

Hayama-dono broke her train of thought, but she turned her eyes to one of the smaller screens to see if she could see the same thing in each of the four simultaneous broadcasts while she also listened.

"…is called Material Burst."

Several voices of varying ages and sexes reverently whispered the name after hearing it.

"…Material Burst."

"In the simplest terms, it is the pure conversion of physical matter into energy."

Hayama-dono reached into an inside coat pocket and removed a fairly large rifle bullet with no attached shell casing.

"This rifle bullet, is identical to the bullet that the strategic class Family member converted into energy."

He held that bullet out so his stunned audience could see it.

"This…..caused THAT."

Right before Hayama-dono said these words, Minami saw the oddity again, this time in the upper right video screen.

 _"That looks like…."_

But the great blast of Material Burst accompanied by everyone's stunned "ahhhhhh"s brought her back to the moment.

"This tiny amount of matter, is all it took to not only destroy six attacking warships, and create a nearly three meter high tsunami wave that even traveled back to the shores of the Continent. It also did….THAT."

His words were perfectly timed. Three of the four images winked out one after the other again.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The surprised expressions drifted upwards again. Even Yonami-sensei and Shirakawa-dono seemed impressed by what they had apparently just learned.

Minami was impressed too, but her eyes were now focused on the middle of the smaller screens.

"From its epicenter, this usage of Material Burst had an explosive radius of three point six eight kilometers. Everything above the water's surface inside that radius was physically damaged beyond repair. Nearly thirty million tons of sea water were instantly vaporized as well. The worldwide sea level has temporarily dropped by two millimeters as a result."

He turned back to look at the blast again.

Before it occurred, Minami saw again what she was looking for.

At that moment she didn't notice that Hayama-dono's face showed intrigue at her own expression.

Now she turned her eyes to the bottom right screen for the final confirmation.

Hayama-dono seemingly stopped speaking then to allow his audience to absorb the fantastic information they had just learned. In reality though, his eyes looked at the singular eleven year old Sakura Series Guardian Trainee as she intently looked down at the bottom right corner of the screen behind him.

Right before the flash indicating Material Burst was shown again, her eyes widened slightly and her mouth dropped slightly.

"Young lady."

She was surprised to be directly addressed by Hayama-dono. He had never spoken to her before now.

"You look like you have a question. Please ask it."

Only momentarily stunned, she quickly reached her feet and bowed to him.

"This one humbly asks if we may view the replay in slow motion?"

Murmurs could be heard behind her and in front. Concerned expressions were shown by the two female adults towards her as well, but Hayama-dono only smiled back at her in an approving manner.

"One eighth speed Yonami-sensei."

"Yes Hayama-dono."

When Yonami-sensei pressed her handheld remote, the screen reset all four images, and played them at a slower speed.

"What are we looking for Minami-san?"

Minami bowed to Yonami-sensei while answering.

"This one believes there is another magic sequence deployed right before the Fleming Thrower projectiles reached the shoreline."

Yonami-sensei and Shirakawa-dono's eyes widened a little at Minami's statement, but Hayama-dono only smiled back at her. Everyone turned back now towards the screen.

A few moments later…

"There!"

These words came from Yonami-sensei as she also paused the slowed down replay.

"….that's….."

"A Sakura Series Guardian Shield."

Hayama-dono finished Yonami-sensei's words for her.

Behind them the Guardian Trainees stirred at this news. Many strained to see the tiny little dome of light paused on the screen with Fleming Thrower projectile streams pointing toward it.

The three adults turned back towards the still standing Minami.

"A keen eye young lady."

At Hayama-dono's praise Minami bowed deeply.

"But…."

Realizing his mistake, the other fourteen year old male Bard stood and bowed after he spoke out of turn.

"May this one ask a question?"

Hayama-dono nodded to him.

"From this far away, even though it still seems tiny, that Shield magic has to be at least a hundred meters in radius. That's…."

For some reason he looked over at Minami with an awkward expression before continuing.

"…beyond a Sakura Series Guardian's normal magic ability."

Minami swallowed hard then. A difficult conclusion came instantly to her mind when the male Bard finished his question.

"Assuming it was Miya-sama's Guardian Honami-sensei, how did she achieve such a…massive Shield?"

Hayama-dono answered without wavering. Behind him the two women both looked on with serious expressions. Yonami-sensei seemed somewhat sad.

"She deliberately over-clocked her magic to cover the entire area under attack."

A few stunned gasps could be heard.

"By doing so she protected the Strategic Class Family member, giving him the vital time he needed to deploy Material Burst."

He straightened and stood at attention. The other two adults instantly followed his example. An image of Honami-sensei appeared behind them. All the Guardian Trainees followed their example.

Minami rose as well, despite the heavy feeling that descended upon her.

 _"She's…."_

"Honami-sensei has rendered for The Family….."

 _"…someone like her, so strong….."_

"…..the Ultimate Service."

 _"…dead."_

It was the entire purpose for their existence. It was the reason the Yotsuba had invested so much into them.

Guardians were supposed to die to protect Yotsuba family members if there was no alternative.

Her idol, her hero…had lived up to every expectation ever sat for her.

"May her example teach us all! May we be worthy successors to her legacy!"

"….to her legacy….."

Minami had been a half step slower than the others in saying the words they had been taught to honor those that rendered the Ultimate Service for the Yotsuba.

She was supposed to feel happy. Honami-sensei died the way any Guardian would dream to die.

 _"But….."_

Before her mind could wonder farther down that forbidden pathway, Hayama-dono spoke again.

"Her honorable actions not only saved the lives of Toushu-sama's closest relatives and the two greatest Mental Interference magicians in the known world, but also protected the life of the most power strategic class magic user in existence."

Yonami-sensei and Shirakawa-dono both looked at Hayama-dono with amazed looks.

 _"Why are they confused?"_

"Allowing him to annihilate the enemy forces almost singlehandedly, and quite possibly preserving the lives of hundreds of thousands."

He then looked over at a stunned Yonami-sensei.

"Play number four."

She did as instructed. Now a video played from another suborbital drone angle, but at much closer resolution. Individuals could be made out.

It was a battle scene, near a beach apparently. A clear line of demarcation could be seen between the two forces. The forces inland were advancing while those with their backs to the water retreated under their advance.

"Woooooo!"

The voices of several around her made that noise.

"Those guys and their equipment!"

"What…..their turning into…ash?"

Minami saw it too. As if a great and invisible scythe where being swung from the heavens, whole waves of enemy frontline units, men and vehicles, disappeared in a small light and smoke.

A young Sakura in the front row pointed and spoke.

"Those guys back there keep falling and getting up!"

"Were they shot?"

"Why else would they fall like that? But to just keep getting back up?"

Hayama-dono spoke then.

"This was the scene less than thirty minutes before the deployment of Material Burst. This is showing the SDF pushing the GAA's 'mercenaries' back into the East China Sea from which they came. This is the last significant concentration of invaders on the island."

"Wow! Who is that?"

Right after several enemy missiles were fired simultaneously and suddenly vaporized around a solitary figure, all eyes in the room focused on that undersized person in a combat suit. He was somewhat in front of the rest of the SDF forces, and to each side he seemed to be holding out his arms at a low angle.

Then the video showed him point his right arm forward.

And then the enemy vehicles that fired those missiles at him all disappeared in a wink of light and smoke.

"HOOOOOO!"

Normal decorum flew out the window as everyone was mutually stunned. Even the two adult women in the room gaped in amazement. Then more SDF personnel behind the small magician combatant seemed to rise from the dead.

"Is he doing THAT too?"

Hayama-dono smiled at the words of the young Sakura in the front row.

"Yes, he is."

Hayama-dono turned to an equally stunned Yonami-sensei.

"Number five please."

When she pushed a button, two images of a young boy approximately between Minami's age and the older Bards was displayed on the screen from a front and right side perspective. These two images were broadcast over the still playing video of the battle.

He wasn't what one would call a Bishonen, but he wasn't unpleasant to look at either. In truth he seemed rather plain looking.

"This is Toushu-sama's nephew, Miya-sama's son, and Miyuki-sama's brother and Guardian."

Hayama-dono's last word caused instant stir among the Guardian Trainees for obvious reasons.

"Settle down no…"

Shirakawa-dono's rebuke was halted by a palm raise from Hayama-dono.

"Yes, he is a Guardian, trained as all of you have been. In fact he completed all of your combat and security training by age eight."

Stunned eyes and opened mouths were the only reply Hayama-dono's shocking words received.

"And yes, he is also Yotsuba."

The two female adults present looked again at Hayama-dono like he had lost his mind.

"The reason a family member was trained as a Guardian is not our concern. He stands above us all, yet below all of the other members of The Family. This was the will of the previous Family head, Eisaku-toushu-sama. Maya-toushu-sama continues this policy."

Now the two adult females looked truly stunned by Hayama-dono's words.

 _"…..but why?"_

"Number six please."

The side profile of the boy disappeared, to be replaced by the image of a beautiful young girl.

"He is Guardian for the most precious treasure of the Yotsuba. The world's greatest Mental Interference magician. His sister, Miyuki-sama."

Minami rose and bowed in the midst of the stunned audience.

"May this one humbly request to speak?"

Hayama-dono nodded indulgently to her.

"Is he…..the one that led the SDF forces in battle?"

Hayama-dono smiled warmly at her.

"Yes. He was also the one destroying the enemy forces and raising his allies from their mortal wounds."

"Is he the strategic class magician as well?"

Hayama-dono looked back at the screen towards the image of the unassuming young boy and the pristine young girl as if looking upon the face of his own grandchildren with intense pride.

"Yes, he is the wielder of Material Burst."

Then, as the others mouthed stunned words to one another, Hayama-dono turned a warm but sad expression to her.

"He, and his mother and sister, were why Honami-sensei rendered her Ultimate Service. He was with her, by her side, till the very end. Together, as Guardians of the Yotsuba they defended the lives of their Primaries, and defeated this nation's enemies in the process."

She slowly nodded to him in gratitude and retook her seat.

Hayama-dono's eyes swept his stunned audience before he spoke again.

"This is the face of the most powerful Guardian we have yet to produce. This is the face of your most senior of all sempais. This is the wielder of the most powerful strategic class magic in the world."

All eyes focused on Hayama-dono with intensity and curiosity.

"This…..is Shiba Tatsuya-dono, and he is one of you."

All eyes focused on the image of the boy.

"THAT is how important Toushu-sama considers the role of the Guardians to be for The Family. To protect her own niece, she has deployed the most powerful magician alive to be her Guardian, her own brother, Toushu-sama's own nephew."

His gaze had become intense.

"Honor Honami-sensei's example with your lives! Strive to be worthy of the trust of our great Family! Be worthy of the great honor Toushu-sama has bestowed upon you; and one day you may prove worthy to stand beside Shiba Tatsuya-sempai, as the Guardians of the Yotsuba!"

Stirred by Hayama-dono's powerful words, everyone was on their feet cheering again.

"Yotsuba!, Yotsuba!, Yotsuba!, Yotsuba!, Yotsuba!, Yotsuba! **"**

Minami couldn't help but notice that Yonami-sensei and Shirakawa-dono cheered, but still seemed flustered by what had happened.

After a few minutes Yonami-sensei settled them down again with hand motions.

"You will all return to your normal schedules now. Over the coming days, additional info on the invasions of Okinawa and Sado Islands will be provided as learning material. You are dismissed."

Everyone began to rise, but Minami noticed quickly that Hayama-dono had made eye contact with her again. He raised his palm to her to stop her from leaving, then flexed his fingers downward to indicate she should retake her seat.

She obeyed. Once seated she saw sympathetic and curious looks from her fellow Guardian Trainees as they filed out of the small auditorium.

As she waited in anticipation, her mind began to wonder.

She had spoken out of turn, but no worse than a few others had. Surely if they wanted to punish her for that they would have kept a few others behind to join her.

Once the last of the other trainees had left the two adult women went to Hayama-dono's side and began pelting him, respectfully, with whispered words.

Minami was too far away to hear them, nor could she read their lips. She judged they had moved to specific positions to prevent just that.

Both women showed varying degrees of distress and amazement as Hayama-dono calmly spoke to them. Shirakawa-dono became extremely animated by her own high standards of decorum at one point.

Eventually they pulled slightly apart with the two women showing expressions of bewildered resignation. Then Yonami-sensei directed her eyes toward Minami, followed by Shirakawa-dono's own probing glare at her.

Tension tripled inside her as she rose and bowed in that direction. Yonami-sensei then waved her towards them. Minami approached, and when she was beside them she bowed again. When she rose Yonami-sensei indicated with her eyes for Minami to take the seat on the end of the front row. Minami bowed once again and sat down in the seat, very conscious to maintain her proper posture.

On her right side Yonami-sensei and Shirakawa-dono stood in a line looking down at her with slightly concerned expressions. Hayama-dono, at that moment, had finished turning a movable seat to face Minami; and had just seated himself in it.

"First let me state again how impressive it was that despite the obvious distraction of Material Burst, and your fellow Guardian Trainees' excitement over it, you maintained your focus on analyzing the video. You were the only one to do so, and thus the only one to see Honami-sensei's magic deployment. I think Honami-sensei would be equally impressed by this as we all are."

Yonami-sensei and Shirakawa-dono both nodded in agreement. Minami nodded her head reverently to them in acknowledgement.

"Thank you very much Hayama-dono."

He smiled slightly back to her before continuing in a more serious tone.

"Your class had a very difficult individual wilderness survival training session a few weeks back. Out of the four remaining members of your class you were the only survivor."

"Difficult" wasn't the first word to come to her mind when thinking back on that particular training. "Sadistic" was more fitting.

"Have you noticed that over the past two years; the majority of your class's time has been spent in combat, survival, and security training?"

"Yes Hayama-dono."

She bowed her head again to him.

They had all noticed that about four in five training assignments had been under Yonami-sensei with less than one in five being service and etiquette with Shirakawa-dono. Their general assumption had been this was normal for all Guardian Trainee classes at this point in their training.

"Since you have only trained with your own class up till now you might be unaware of this fact; but for the entirety of typical Guardian Training, the ratio of militant versus service training is consistently held at one-to-one."

This was a surprise to her.

"It is as Hayama-dono says. This one was unaware."

"In fact, that last….costly…training session has yet to have been assigned to the class of fourteen year old Bard Series Guardian Trainees that were here today. It usually is taken in a Guardian's fifteenth year."

She knew her eyes involuntarily widened at this news.

"You…..overcame it….at four years younger than normal."

She looked over to the two women, who both gave her reassuring smiles.

"Only one other Guardian has attempted and passed that level of training at your age or younger."

"Shiba Tatsuya-dono?"

He nodded back with a smile.

"Yes, he was seven at the time, but he is also an exception to many rules."

The two adult women again displayed slight concern at Hayama-dono's words.

That was stunning news to Minami too; but after witnessing what he could do just minutes before, she wasn't TOO stunned by it.

 _"….an exception to many rules."_

"Setting aside the fact that you are behind on the service side of your training, from the combat side you have now moved from Guardian Trainee status to Guardian Apprentice. While as a Guardian Apprentice you will still have difficult training under Yonami-sensei, from this point on the training ratio will reverse. You will leave here today with Shirakawa-dono to begin your makeup work on the service side of your training immediately."

Shirakawa-dono usually provided training for Trainees in the dormitory classrooms. As an Apprentice she would be doing on-the-job training under Shirakawa-dono instruction.

"Yes, we have MUCH work ahead of us to get you back on track."

At Shirakawa-dono's words, Minami solemnly nodded to her.

"The price was indeed high to accelerate your class forward, but there was meaning behind it."

Hayama-dono's words brought her attention back to him.

"Miyuki-sama will soon have need for a female Guardian as she enters her womanhood. As your class of Sakuras was the closest in age it was determined long ago that one of you would stand by her side as a Guardian."

Minami tensed at this news. It was what she had always wanted. A place by the side of one of the main family members; and not just any family member, but the one most likely to one day lead The Family herself.

"If you can advance quickly in the service portion of your training, while maintaining your current militant proficiency, you will be deployed to Miyuki-sama's side and attend high school with her."

Minami rose from her chair and bowed deeply to Hayama-dono.

"This one is truly grateful for this opportunity. This one will not fail in her duties, and will prove herself worthy to protect Miyuki-sama."

They all smiled and nodded to her words.

"You will spend the next two years as a servant in the main residence. There you will refine and cultivate your service skills under Shirakawa-dono's instruction and beside your sempai's in the household. Your status as Miyuki-sama's future Guardian will not be discussed beyond those currently in the room or Toushu-sama, should she choose to discuss it with you."

Minami swallowed hard at that last bit of news.

"Discuss with….Toushu-sama?"

Despite Yonami-sensei and Hayama-dono's mild amusement at her stunned expression, Shirakawa-dono seemed vexed with her reaction.

"Who do you think lives in the Main Residence? Of course you will be serving Toushu-sama, and her guests and other Family members, once I'm certain you have earned the chance to."

Hayama-dono merely nodded to Shirakawa-dono's words before speaking again.

"And should Toushu-sama eventually find you worthy, you will be deployed to Miyuki-sama's household as her servant and Guardian Apprentice."

She bowed to this, but her expression must have shown confusion. Yonami-sensei knew what was bothering her.

"You will receive further on-the-job training from Miyuki-sama's current Guardian. You will work under his instruction and supervision to provide Miyuki-sama multiple levels of protection."

Her eyes drifted back up to the image on the screen of the unassuming thirteen year old boy.

 _"From…him?"_

A Family member would train her? The boy that had repelled an invasion? The boy that can do…..THAT?

"That" of course was Material Burst.

Stunned eyes returned to the three adults.

"It is the greatest honor to serve a Main Family member as their personal Guardian Minami-san. You are only the third Sakura to have that honor behind Honami-sensei and myself."

Yonami-sensei's words struck at the heart of Minami's true desires.

"The honor of the entire Sakura Line is now on your shoulders. Do not let Honami-sensei's example for us all go to waste. Serve The Family with honor and bring pride to your lineage, as Honami-sensei has."

Minami bowed deeply to them all.

"This one will prove worthy of your trust in her and of Honami-sensei's legacy! This one will die before she fails Miyuki-sama!"

Her heart nearly burst with excitement, anticipation, and pride.

* * *

"Sorry to disturb you madam."

Maya put her teacup back on it's saucer before replying.

"What it it Hayama-san?"

She knew he wouldn't bother her at this time of the evening if it weren't important. This was the time of day she "decompressed" and relaxed. Hayama would never bother her at this time unless it was important.

"There is a call for madam."

Maya turned around on the couch to look at Hayama.

"Please tell me it's not Onee-san."

Hayama had informed her that very afternoon that Miya and her children were back home safely. After their tiring conversation a few days ago, the last thing Maya wanted to do was speak to her sister again. It had taken her days to settle her mood down afterwards. Maya was particularly incensed at how Miya rubbed her fertility in her face. She knew exactly how much Maya hated not being able to have her own children.

However, Miya was one of the few people who would dare to disturb Maya knowingly at this time of night.

"I refuse to let her work me up before I have to see those people."

Maya had an early flight to Nara in the morning. Kudou Makoto had called an emergency Ten Master Clans meeting, presumably so his father and Kazuki could tell them the results of the emergency IMA (International Magic Association) summit.

But if it was just that, then a secure video conference would have been enough.

 _"Sensei seems to be playing his role exactly how we expected him to."_

"It is not Miya-sama madam."

Maya looked at him with suspicion.

"It is Elder Kudou."

Now Maya's eyebrows rose together in surprise.

"Something that can't wait till tomorrow?"

She knew Sensei hadn't told Hayama his intentions, at least not his true intentions.

"Just speculation madam, but I'd assume it's something for only you."

Hayama looked pensive now. She had to know the reason for that rare look.

"What is it?"

He locked eyes with her.

"He didn't use the official residence line, the secure official Ten Master Clans line, or even the secret line, to make his conversation request."

Maya's expression stayed perplexed as she heard this.

"He called my personal line, the one only madam and I use."

"How in the...oh, the granddaughter from the Fujibayashi clan."

Hayama nodded.

"Kyouko. Her magic abilities related to electronic systems is quit extraordinary. When I used the secure line to reestablish the call, we could not improve upon the existing security."

Maya twisted up her face at this.

"Having someone like that in his family is disturbing. That ability is almost as valuable as Elemental Sight."

Hayama could only nod to this.

"Alright then, lets find out what he wants."

Hayama bowed and used his data terminal to connect the call.

After the monitor screen descended out of the ceiling, the call connected.

There on the other side of the screen in a simple arm chair sat an old man with silver slicked-back hair and unreadable eyes. Anyone who let the image of this particular octogenarian fool them, they would be in for a rude surprise.

The old man smiled at her and she returned the smile back.

"Sensei, what a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure? Something change about tomorrow's arrangements?"

He smiled indulgently back at her.

"Well I suppose that depends on you my dear."

An unexpected reply forced Maya to redouble her false mask not to show anything revealing to those fox like eyes.

"Oh, how so Sensei?"

Kudou Retsu smirked a bit at her reply and then looked off wistfully from the screen for a moment before turning his eyes back to her.

"Well dear, assuming on how fruitful this conversation is, I will be telling everyone one thing, or another thing tomorrow."

She smiled back at him but her anxiety was increasing by the second.

"And, what would those two different things be Sensei?"

The Elder's smile finally showed some teeth.

 _"He's way too pleased with himself."_

Maya knew Kudou at least 'thought' he knew something.

"Well Maya-chan..."

He always treated her like she was a daughter or granddaughter when he spoke to her alone, it was endearing and annoying at the same time to Maya.

"...if our conversation goes well, then I will tell our colleagues tomorrow that I'll personally handle the investigation into the new strategic class magician. Then I will tell Kouichi-san..."

Maya couldn't help but squint slightly at the mention of THAT PERSON'S name.

"...that he and I should cooperate fully to get to the bottom of the matter, so that I can at least thwart the parts of his investigation that he grants us access to. I'll also use my resources to thwart the parts of his investigation he doesn't want me to know about as well."

Maya inhaled slowly after Kudou paused with a paternal smile on his face.

"And...should our conversation go poorly?"

They never stopped smiling at each other.

"Then I'll have to tell them ALL the results of my investigation. Which interestingly enough includes a very much alive and well Miya-san visiting Okinawa at the same time as the attack."

Even the normally perfect Hayama shifted slightly in his position behind her couch now.

"...apparently with her TWO children."

A grainy image of Miya with Miyuki and Tatsuya walking through what looked like an airport were shown then in the bottom left corner of the viewing screen.

Maya never broke her smile as she glanced down at it, before returning her gaze to the the self-satisfied old man smiling back at her.

"After all, a Ten Masters clan member being on the island during the attack isn't something that the Ten Master Clans Council can USUALLY ignore in a situation like this."

Maya smiled brightly at him before replying.

"Ara, ara! Sensei, you've known Miya was alive and well for years, tell the truth."

He smiled back.

"Of course dear, but I respect my two old pupils enough to not make an issue out of it. That was Yotsuba private business."

"But now it's suddenly Ten Master Clans business Sensei?"

His smile showed her more teeth again.

 _"Damn you you nosy old man."_

Maya hid this thought behind her smiling mask.

"Well, gigantic, unexplained explosions that destroy enemy fleets have a unique way of suddenly turning family business into public business."

Maya smirked off to the side.

"And what makes Sensei think my sister and her children being on Okinawa was anything more than just a coincidence?"

Kudou shrugged his shoulders then.

"You can call it, old man's intuition."

Suddenly a second image appeared on the lower right screen. It was another grainy image, but this one everyone around the world has seen.

The Boy in Black.

Then several measurement images showed up on both pictures around Tatsuya's image, and the Boy in Black.

"You know the chatter from across the Straits of Tsushima now keeps calling The Boy in Black the 'Demon of Okinawa'. I've also heard that they are calling him Mahesvara, 'The Great Lord Shiva'. That one certainly hasn't let the Yotsuba family honor down on the nickname front, has he? I wonder what titles that sister of his will earn for herself?"

All the measurement figures lined up perfectly on the two displayed figures.

"That one looks just like Genzou-san, doesn't he?"

Maya smiled back at him after taking a sip of tea.

"He certainly favors father in looks."

Hayama shifted lightly again behind her. An indication of how exposed the Yotsuba position was now.

"And of course that beautiful little girl greatly favors the graceful Yasuyo. Your mother was a truly beautiful and graceful woman. Knowing how fond you Yotsuba's have become of cloning, I almost thought that was the case here."

They continued to share those fake smiles.

"But Genzou couldn't decompose whole armies, raise his allies from the dead, or convert matter into energy to make a strategic level magic."

Maya just smiled back at her Sensei as he leaned forward in his chair as if to whisper to her.

"So why don't we agree now about what I'll say tomorrow, and we can leave Miya and her children alone?"

Maya fought not to grind her teeth together behind her false mask smile. Across the screen the old man smiled back with intense delight at her.

"Then afterwards, you can tell me all about young..."

Elder Kudou could barely contain his enthusiasm any longer. He was practically leaning out of his chair.

"...Tatsuya."


End file.
